Red Sox Get Highly Anticipated Ceddanne Rafaela News

Boston's star center fielder underwent an MRI on Thursday after an early exit in his first game back from injury.

by Ezra Lombardi

Sep 24, 2026

Boston Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (3) hits a single against the Cleveland Guardians during the second inning at Fenway Park.

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Boston Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela made a long-awaited but short-lived return to Fenway Park on Wednesday night, making a spectacular catch to record the first out of the game and lining a base hit off of the Green Monster in his first at-bat.

Rafaela, who had just been activated off of the injured list for a right quad strain, then grimaced while getting out of the batter’s box and grabbed at the back of his right leg after a labored trot to first base. He stayed in the game to run the bases following a conversation with manager Chad Tracy and athletic trainer Brandon Henry.

While warming up for the top half of the next inning, Tracy and Henry reemerged to check on Rafaela in center field. A shorter discussion between the three resulted in the Gold Glover coming out of the game to be replaced by Jarren Duran in center.

Later in the game it was revealed that Rafaela was removed due to hamstring tightness, something he downplayed after the game as cramping. Tracy had also alluded to cramping during the broadcast, but the Red Sox decided the injury was serious enough to warrant an MRI.

Fortunately, it looks like the MRI results were clean, and Rafaela is back in the lineup for Thursday night’s series finale against the Guardians. He will start in center field and bat sixth against right-hander Daniel Espino.

The original lineup card did not include Rafaela, which wasn’t much of a surprise considering his health outweighs the results of the final regular season games. But after getting the positive results the Red Sox felt good about throwing him back in there, scratching Jahmai Jones who was slated for left field and moving Jarren Duran over on a Roman Anthony scheduled day off.

After starting 130 of Boston’s first 140 games, Rafaela’s quad injury allowed for a 17-game breather. But now running into the final two series before postseason play, both he and the Red Sox were eager to get back to full strength and speed. While the health of his leg and ability to play excellent defense is the most important, they clearly value the use of these final games for him to see big-league at-bats before the Wild Card Series.

With this weekend’s series with the Cubs in flux due to weather concerns, it makes sense that the club wants to guarantee some additional at-bats at Fenway on Thursday. As last night showed, the move doesn’t come without some risk, but it is one they will have to take with time running out.