Anthony Adds Power Bat to Team USA’s WBC Boys of Spring Roster

Roman Anthony will be in Team USA’s lineup in the WBC final on Tuesday while his Boston Red Sox teammates play the Atlanta Braves.

Roman Anthony #3 of Team United States runs around the bases after hitting a solo home run against Team Dominican Republic during the fourth inning at loanDepot park in Miami, Fla., on March 15, 2026. Al Bello/Getty Images

Adding Roman Anthony to Team USA’s roster as a replacement for Corbin Carroll last month is turning out to be one of the smartest decisions made by manager Mark DeRosa.

Anthony’s swing of the bat off of Team Dominican Republic reliever Gregory Soto in the fourth inning of Sunday’s WBC semifinals, with one out and the score tied at one, proved to be the game-winning home run. The game was every bit as thrilling as the 2–1 score indicates. Team USA supporters among the crowd of 36,337 at Miami’s LoanDepot Park erupted with cheers as Anthony rounded the bases. This was his second round-tripper of the tournament. During the Team USA and Team Mexico game on March 9, Anthony blasted a three-run shot to make the score 5–0. The final score was 5–3.

Team USA moves on to Tuesday’s championship game against the winner of Monday’s Team Venezuela–Team Italy game.

When spring training camp opened in February, Anthony had every intention of putting in six weeks of workouts in Fort Myers, Florida with his Boston Red Sox teammates at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. When Boston earned a 7–2 win over the visiting Minnesota Twins on Sunday, their 22nd Grapefruit League game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora originally planned to have Anthony positioned in one of the corner outfield positions.

However, Boston’s well-laid plans changed on February 16. Corbin Carroll, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ outfielder, was removed from Team USA’s roster after he broke the hamate bone in his right hand on Feb. 10, and Anthony was recruited to be part of Team USA.

Right from his onboarding with Team USA, Anthony has felt comfortable in his new clubhouse environment. MLB.com’s Alyson Footer caught up with him after the Red Sox slugger was one week into his second training camp.

“We have a great group,” Anthony said. “Since day one, it’s been easy to kind of just blend well with this group and be around this group of guys. It’s been an awesome experience for me. It’s been a huge learning experience. It’s been a blast.”

Playing in six of Team USA’s WBC games, Anthony is anything but a bystander in DeRosa’s lineup. His hitting continues to command attention from the opposing countries’ pitching staffs. In Sunday’s game, the box score shows Anthony’s offense producing one run, one RBI, and one hit in three at-bats. His home run in the fourth inning, which came after teammate Gunnar Henderson’s solo shot in the same inning to tie the game at one, silenced the large Dominican fan base in the stadium.

Roman Anthony #3 of Team United States is greeted in the dugout after hitting a solo home run against Team Dominican Republic during the fourth inning at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Fla., on March 15, 2026. Al Bello/Getty Images

Aaron Judge, Team USA captain and three-time American League MVP, told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale on Sunday that the WBC experience playing against Team Dominican Republic is one that he won’t soon forget.

“It was bigger and better than the World Series,” Judge said. “The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favorite players, there’s nothing like it.”

Anthony’s home run, regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s game, will have him return to Red Sox camp as a bigger hero than when he departed. Already a huge fan favorite in New England baseball circles, Anthony no sooner made his MLB debut last June than the Red Sox, in August, extended him an eight-year, $130 million contract.

Prior to the start of the WBC tournament, some MLB skippers were concerned that players may not get in the necessary work to prepare them for Opening Day. In Anthony’s case, he remains as busy as if hitting in the cages at Fenway South. Currently 5th among all batters in the WBC, Anthony has 22 at-bats to his credit, and has smacked seven hits, scored five runs, and belted two homers.

For a young player, with just 71 game appearances in 2025 for Boston and finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year Award balloting, Anthony is carrying himself throughout the tournament as a confident veteran.

In speaking with FOX’s postgame crew about his game-deciding home run, in a report at Yahoo Sports, Anthony offered details on what the at-bat meant to him.

“I think leading up to it over the last few weeks, being back here with Breggy and all these guys, just putting an emphasis on being early, being ready to hit every single pitch,” Anthony told Alex Rodriguez. “For me, it’s just about going out there and getting a good pitch to hit ... When I hit it, I kind of just blacked out. In my head, I was just, ‘Please go, please go.”

Into the Miami night went the ball launched off of Anthony’s custom wood Victus bat. It traveled 421 feet, and when landing over the outfield wall at LoanDepot Park, a celebration began at the level of New Year’s Eve at Times Square in New York City.

In Tuesday’s final tournament game, what could Anthony offer as an encore? Home run No. 3, in the ninth inning, would be a crowd-pleaser.