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Red Sox’ Roman Anthony and Ceddanne Rafaela say they’re fine after outfield collision
“We got the wind knocked out of both of us I think a little bit there.”
The Red Sox appear to have caught a major break following an initially scary situation during Friday’s spring training game against the Atlanta Braves.
Left fielder Roman Anthony and center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela were both tracking a fly ball in left-center when the pair collided and went crashing to the ground in the first inning. They each remained on the ground for some time, but ultimately stayed in the game after being checked out by the training staff.
Not only did both of them continue playing in the outfield and come up to bat, but they each recorded hits in the third inning. Anthony logged a single and Rafaela clubbed a two-run home run, both off of ex-Red Sox ace Chris Sale in back-to-back at-bats. Anthony continued playing until he was subbed out in the sixth inning and Rafaela in the fourth.
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After the game, both Anthony and Rafaela chalked the collision up to a lack of communication on the play.
“We both called it and I thought I got it and he thought he got it,” Rafaela said (via the Boston Herald’s Mac Cerullo). “It was a misunderstanding.”
Rafaela noted that he was more concerned with Anthony’s health than his own. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Anthony remained on the ground longer, despite the 5-foot-10, 165-pound Rafaela seeming to take the brunt of the hit.
“I was just hoping he was OK, I was more worried about him than I was about me,” Rafaela said. “I saw him in some pain and I don’t like seeing my teammates in those types of situations.”
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Anthony said each of them got hit by the other awkwardly. Anthony’s left arm took a knock, causing a bruise, while Rafaela’s hamstring got the most of it on his end.
“I just wanted to take a second, we got the wind knocked out of both of us I think a little bit there and hit him pretty hard and wanted to make sure he was good,” Anthony said. “Weird feeling at first but nothing too crazy.”
Manager Alex Cora echoed Rafaela’s sentiments about the crash being due to miscommunication.
“When that (communication) doesn’t happen, things like that (the collision) can happen,” Cora said.
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