Rafaela called up, but can’t crack the lineup
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ceddanne Rafaela has been a major leaguer for five games. The center fielder and shortstop has started one of them.
That’s an unusual strategy for a 22-year-old considered one of the organization’s top prospects. Typically such players are promoted to play, not watch.
But Rafaela has been in the lineup only once and come off the bench three times. He is 3 for 8 with a double, one RBI, and one run scored. He played the final four innings in center field and struck out in his only at-bat in Saturday’s 9-5 victory against Kansas City.
The question was put to manager Alex Cora before the game: Why not play Rafaela more?
“He’s going to play,” Cora said. “We’ll find ways to play him. He’s here. He’s a good athlete. He’s a good righthanded hitter. He can play short, too. I think that’s a plus.
“Whenever we don’t play Trevor [Story], he’s going to get at-bats there, and in the outfield when we bring him late in the game to play defense. He’s a good player. We’re very comfortable with him here.”
Is Rafaela with the Sox out of need or because this is the best thing for his development?
“Roster-wise, it makes sense to have him. A versatile guy who can hit and run and play good defense is always welcome,” Cora said.
Story has hit .185 in 20 games since coming off the injured list, but signed through 2027, the Red Sox want to give him every opportunity to get going after missing the first four months of the season recovering from elbow surgery.
Adam Duvall, the regular center fielder, is a free agent after this season but has carried the team offensively the last two weeks. Masataka Yoshida has hit .253 with a .669 OPS since the All-Star break and has been one of the worst defensive left fielders in the game based on the metrics. (He came out when Rafaela entered Saturday, with Duvall shifting to left.) But with Justin Turner the regular designated hitter, Yoshida has remained in left field.
Duvall, Story, Turner, and Yoshida were all in the starting lineup Saturday.
Kelly’s comeback trail
Zack Kelly started his injury rehabilitation assignment by pitching a scoreless inning for Single A Greenville against Brooklyn on Friday night. The righthander struck out two, walked one, and threw 11 of 17 pitches for strikes.
“Stuff-wise he was actually really good,” Cora said. “The hump on the fastball, the extension, the velocity. We like what he did.”
Cora didn’t know what the next step would be for Kelly, but the plan is to have him back on the major league roster before the end of the season.
Kelly suffered what appeared to be a season-ending elbow injury April 12 at Tampa Bay, but what was feared to be a ligament tear proved to be a displaced ulnar nerve, which required surgery.
Kelly has a 3.68 ERA in 19 games for the Sox since making his debut late last season.
Kluber not done?
Corey Kluber is traveling with the team and working toward a return this season. The 37-year-old righthander has been on the injured list since June 21 with shoulder inflammation.
Kluber is 3-6 with a 7.04 ERA in 15 games. He was the Opening Day starter after being signed to a one-year, $10 million deal. Kluber had a 6.26 ERA in nine starts before being demoted to the bullpen.
A two-game minor league rehab assignment in July went poorly, but Kluber is hoping to pitch again. He threw in the bullpen Saturday and had a few minutes of fielding practice on the mound.
There would seem to be little chance Kluber returns to the Red Sox next season. He has been with five teams the last five years, going 20-22 with a 4.80 ERA.
Cora climbing charts
The win was Cora’s 432nd in the regular season, matching
John Farrell for sixth place in
Sox history. Jimmy Collins is fifth with 455 . . . Chris Sale is scheduled to start the series finale on Sunday afternoon on an extra day of rest. Sale has allowed 11 earned runs on 16 hits over 18„ innings since returning from the injured list Aug. 11. The Royals will use Taylor
Clarke as an opener, then likely go to Zack Greinke, who is 1-13 with a 5.28 ERA. Greinke has given up 17 earned runs on 24 hits over 9‚ innings in his last three starts against the Sox going back to 2016. Story (14 of
50, five home runs) and Turner (13 of 36, seven extra-base hits) have hit Greinke hard over the years . . . Lefthander Brennan Bernardino was back with the team after being cleared of
Covid symptoms. He is expected to be activated from the injured list Sunday . . . The Royals inducted former manager Ned Yost into their team Hall of Fame before the game. Yost won a franchise-record 746 regularseason games from 2010–19. The Royals were World Series champions in 2015 after losing in seven games against the Giants in ’14. A large group of players from those teams was on hand for the ceremony.