Boston Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony has surprised the baseball world with his rapid ascent in 2025, but some people close to Anthony aren’t shocked.

One of those people happens to be Baltimore Orioles second-year infielder Jackson Holliday, who has been friends with Anthony since they were in middle school.

Holliday and Anthony were both selected in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft; Holliday by the Orioles at No. 1 overall, Anthony by the Red Sox at No. 79.

The two friends are sharing a diamond this week as Anthony’s Red Sox are in Camden Yards battling Holliday’s Orioles.

The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey caught up with Holliday, who had plenty of nice things to say about Anthony.

“Since we were 15 years old, I knew there was something different about the way he swung the bat,” Hollid

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