BALTIMORE -- Rather than play short for another few days, the Red Sox decided to play it safe with center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and place him on the 10-day injured list prior to Sunday’s game against the Orioles with a right quadriceps strain. The move was made retroactive to Thursday. Utility player Nate Eaton was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to fill his spot.
By backdating the IL move, Rafaela will be eligible to return on Sept. 13, the finale of a six-game homestand against the Royals.
Interim manager Chad Tracy thinks it’s realistic to think Rafaela will be back in the lineup when first eligible.
“That's my expectation,” Tracy said. “Obviously, he has to go through running stuff next week, and you don't know how he's going to respond to that. So it's hard to say. 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.”
The 25-year-old is having his typical Gold Glove-caliber season on defense and has improved his consistency at the plate, hitting .282 with 32 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs, 70 RBIs, 67 runs and a .760 OPS in 135 games this season, while making 130 starts in center field. Rafaela was named an All-Star for the first time this season.
Rafaela joins first baseman Willson Contreras (left hamstring, placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday) on the sidelines.
The Red Sox are trying to get their team at its healthiest for the games that matter the most down the stretch.
“Big picture, you’d like to not deal with it at all and have everybody healthy and good. But there are things that come up in the season -- and a lot of times they come up in August, late August or early September -- and you can't really control it,” said Tracy. “Then you just try to do your due diligence with what's going on with certain guys. Even though it's an IL stint, if you see things that feel like, ‘OK, this feels like it's a small thing, let's try to keep it a small thing and not turn it into pushing [the player].’ And then we’ve lost the player for the rest of the year.”
While Eaton is a reliable utility player the Sox have called up many times in the past, was there any thought to recalling Kristian Campbell, the former top prospect who has at last regained his groove offensively (.921 OPS in last 49 games at Worcester entering Sunday) after prolonged struggles that dated back to the early part of last season?
“There's always consideration for guys that are doing well, but you also have to consider the role,” Tracy said. “Like, what's the role? What's currently on the roster? Where are the at-bats? And what are you grabbing a player for? If it's primarily a bench role that you think of for running and defense, and you’re taking Kristian out of an environment where he’s swinging the bat and continuing to get at-bats is not [conducive to success]. All that's taken into consideration based on where's the roster at, what do we need for the next five days? And we’ll go from there.”
The Red Sox gave Campbell an eight-year, $60 million contract extension last April after he had emerged as the team’s Opening Day second baseman.
After lowering his hands in the offseason in hopes of improving his luck offensively, Campbell struggled mightily the first three months of this season at Triple-A.
But he moved his hands back to the previous higher position, and the early returns have been encouraging.
“I know he’s back to a more traditional setup with his hands,” Tracy said. “I know a lot of it is stuff that's just been kind of driving him back to where he was a couple years ago in his setups and comfort and letting him turn it loose. So right now, it seems to be working, which is great.”