As the Boston Red Sox make a run toward the postseason, the team will be without its center fielder for at least the next week with a right quadriceps strain.
On Sunday, the Red Sox announced that Ceddanne Rafaela was placed on the 10-day injured list. But the IL stint will be dated back to Sept. 3, so Rafaela could return in a week depending on how he recovers from the injury.
However, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy believes Rafaela could be activated when eligible on Sept. 13.
“That’s my expectation,” Tracy said, via MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “Obviously, he has to go through running stuff next week, and you don’t know how he’s going to respond to that.
“But the way he’s progressing right now, that’s my expectation. We have to see how everything goes with the running. But we just got past the point of being able to wait [for him], and not have an extra player here for another four games or so.”
Rafaela, 25, missed the Red Sox’s previous three games with the injury so the team had to decide whether or not to put him on the IL and backdate the three days he missed.
How or when the outfielder suffered the injury hasn’t been reported, but he was dealing with the quad strain for at least the past week, according to the Boston Herald’s Mac Cerullo. But he was taken out of Boston’s games on Tuesday and Wednesday versus the Seattle Mariners in the seventh inning.
Rafaela has been one of the Red Sox’s best players this season, compiling a slash average of .287/.317/.443 with 32 doubles, 16 home runs, 70 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 135 games.
He’s also played excellent defense in center field, credited with 20 Defensive Runs Saved (leading MLB center fielders) and 22 Outs Above Average (ranking first in the American League) by advanced metrics.
Rafaela joins Willson Contreras and Masataka Yoshida as everyday players on the injured list. Both players are recovering from left hamstring strains.
To fill the opening on its roster, Boston recalled outfielder Nate Eaton (.253 average, .748 OPS) from Triple-A Worcester. Eli White, acquired at the trade deadline from the Atlanta Braves, has started the past four games in center field during Rafaela’s absence.
At 79-65, the Red Sox have a firm hold on the AL’s second wild-card playoff spot, six games ahead of the Cleveland Guardians.
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