Rafaela doesn’t feel he’ll go on injured list

No surprise here. Rafaela seemed optimistic he’d skip a trip to the injured list while manager Chad Tracy was a little more evasive on the topic last night. Consider Rafaela day-to-day for now; we wouldn’t be surprised if he missed more games this weekend.

He left Wednesday’s game with the ailment. There’s no real update on how serious the injury is, but we’d imagine he’s day-to-day given nothing more serious has come out about it yet.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters afterwards that they made the decision to get Rafaela off his feet during the late stages of a one-sided affair. The 25-year-old center fielder finished 1-for-3 at the plate before being lifted in the seventh inning. It sounds like it was a precautionary move, but fantasy managers should keep a close eye on Rafaela’s status heading into Thursday’s series opener against the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Rafaela was responsible for two of the five hits the Red Sox totaled in Friday’s 1-0 loss to the Yankees. Rafaela has now hit safely in six of his last seven games and is slashing .284/.312/.451 in August with nine extra-base hits and 12 RBI.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy had said they were looking to get him a day off at some point, and that’s all this appears to be. Eli White is batting ninth and playing center field against RHP Bubba Chandler.

Rafaela went deep in his first two at-bats to join Eric Haase as the only players to hit two homers off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in one game. He had two more hard-hit balls afterwards, but they both turned into outs. It was Rafaela’s second career two-homer game. He’s 11-for-26 with four homers, 10 RBI and two steals in his last six games.

Rafaela’s homer gave the Red Sox a 5-4 lead in the seventh, and the team added three more runs afterwards in the frame. Along with his 12th homer, Rafaela collected his 15th steal tonight, adding to his chances of notching a 20/20 season. He’s been Boston’s best player with his .286/.326/.456 line and his spectacular defense in center field.

Rafaela thought he just missed on the slam, spiking his bat on the fly to left. Colby Thomas really should have made the catch, but he didn’t time the play very well and had the ball go off his glove as he jumped at the wall. Rafaela had hit .355 in 32 career plate appearances with the bases loaded, but this was his first slam, and it put the Red Sox in position to claim a 10th straight road victory. Rafaela, who was dropped to fifth in Boston’s lineup with new arrival Curtis Mead hitting second tonight, is batting .278/.320/.442 in 414 plate appearances.

Rafaela has an even better case for an All-Star spot this year than he did last year, when he didn’t really warm up offensively until June, but since his Gold Glove defense in center just isn’t given enough weight, he’s still looking to be selected for the first time. Maybe he’ll get in as a replacement for Aaron Judge or Byron Buxton. He’s hitting .284/.332/.441, so it’s not all about defense.

The hits came in his first three at-bats. He had two at-bats left to complete the cycle, but he struck out in both. One can’t help but think those at-bats might have gone better if hitting for the cycle wasn’t actually a thing. Rafaela is batting .286/.334/.451 on the year.