Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony joins Rafael Devers in franchise history in first game after trade

Rafael Devers is gone from Boston, and now, Roman Anthony can take center stage.

Anthony wasted little time claiming his Red Sox mantle.

On Monday night, in the first game after Boston traded away its superstar slugger, Anthony turned on a pitch and crushed it deep and gone to right-center in Seattle. It was Anthony's first MLB home run.

Roman Anthony goes deep for his first career home run! pic.twitter.com/nRORmnyxrC

It was more than just that, though. According to MLB's Sarah Langs, it made Anthony the youngest player to homer for the Red Sox since Devers did so in the 2017 ALDS.

Quite the coincidence and timing there.

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Anthony had gotten off to a very slow start to his MLB career. He had made some hard contact but had almost nothing to show for it.

But with Devers gone, Anthony should get the runway to sink or swim as much as he can. And it'll be swings like that one from Monday that can provide a jolt both to himself and to the rest of his teammates.

Boston has won six games in a row now, and if the Red Sox can keep winning without Devers, they'll validate the trade internally pretty quickly.

Anthony's time has arrived, and in his first game needing to carry a bigger offensive load, he delivered.

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