Over the last few years Red Sox prospect Roman Anthony has been on a group chat with several friends from around the game, among them Baltimore Orioles infielder and former No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday.

Wednesday morning, Anthony woke up to the news that he now held that distinction himself, and Holliday was among the first to reach out with congratulations.

With Tampa Bay Rays standout Junior Caminero officially graduating from prospect status, Anthony is now the new No. 1 prospect in Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospect Rankings. Barring any unexpected developments the 20-year-old outfielder will retain the No. 1 spot into the winter, and he’ll be among the favorites to top the upcoming offseason rankings, which are considered to be Baseball America’s “official” list when comparing different years.

If he does, he’ll go into the record books side-by-side with Holliday, who held the top spot this past spring.

“It’s really cool to be able to share with him, we’ve trained together for the past two offseasons in Stillwater and Florida, but I texted him congrats, nothing crazy,” Holliday said in the Fenway Park visitor’s clubhouse. “It’s really cool for him to accomplish that.”

“Jackson’s a great friend of mine, I spend a lot of time with him in the offseason out in Oklahoma and we’ve been friends for quite a while now,” Anthony told Tommy Cassell of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette on Wednesday. “He shot me a text this morning and it’s obviously nice, he was in this situation not too long ago and now he’s making an impact in the big leagues.”

Roman Anthony is now the No. 1 ranked prospect in baseball according to Baseball America.

Here is the 20-year-old discussing the accolade, and his conversation with former No. 1 prospect Jackson Holliday (@J_Holliday7, Orioles) — who texted Anthony congrats this morning. pic.twitter.com/DglVNnOOkf

— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) September 11, 2024

Anthony is the third player in Red Sox history to earn Baseball America’s top spot, the others being Andrew Benintendi in 2017 and Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007. Baseball America’s rankings date back 35 years, and in addition to Holliday, recent top prospects include fellow Orioles Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, both of whom have emerged as big league superstars.

Others who have ranked No. 1 on Baseball America’s list include future Hall of Famers like Frank Thomas and Joe Mauer.

Originally drafted in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, Anthony quickly established himself as one of the top young players in the Red Sox system and has rapidly risen through the ranks. He was promoted twice in his first full season as a professional, jumping from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville and eventually to Double-A Portland, and this season he became the youngest Red Sox prospect in more than 40 years to reach Triple-A.

His performance since getting to Worcester has been nothing short of remarkable. In 25 games entering Wednesday Anthony was batting .340 with three home runs, 14 RBI and a .949 OPS. Including his numbers from Double-A, Anthony is batting .286 with 18 homers, 59 RBI, 18 stolen bases and an .878 OPS on the season overall.

Unlike Holliday, who was always regarded as a blue-chip talent, Anthony did not enjoy the same level of renown earlier in his career. Holliday believes that was a mistake and he’s always thought Anthony was among the best young players in the sport.

“I always thought he was a lot higher, should have been way higher ranked than he was,” Holliday said. “He was such a good player, a complete hitter, everyone talks about his power but I’ve always thought he’s a really complete hitter.

“It’s awesome to see him accomplish that,” he added. “I’m very happy for him.”

As for what advice he’d give his friend, Holliday said Anthony just needs to keep working hard and don’t change anything.

“Obviously you’ve got fans and media and it comes with that, but my advice was just to keep doing what he’s doing, nothing really changes,” Holliday said. “The goal is to play in the big leagues and to have the No. 1 prospect is something he can say he accomplished while in the minor leagues. That’s something I would say and I think he’s done a really good job of handling himself without putting too much thought into it.”

Including Anthony the Red Sox now have six players on Baseball America’s list and four of the top 25. The others are Marcelo Mayer at No. 10, Kristian Campbell at No. 24, Kyle Teel at No. 25, Braden Montgomery at No. 59 and Franklin Arias at No. 92.