Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela stay in Red Sox game after scary outfield collision

The Red Sox are breathing a collective sigh of relief after a scary scene in the outfield during Boston’s exhibition game Friday.

In the bottom of the first inning against the Braves, left fielder Roman Anthony and center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela collided hard on a Jurickson Profar fly ball to left center. As Anthony drifted to his left, Rafaela drifted to his right to catch the ball and Anthony came down with it as he collided with Rafaela. Both fell to the ground.

After a delay in which two trainers and manager Alex Cora checked on them in the outfield, both players stayed in the game. You can see the play (and the aftermath) here.

“Everybody was worried, but they’re OK,” Cora told reporters.

Anthony, who seemed to get the worst of the collision, appeared to hurt his left arm in the elbow area. He told reporters after the game that he had the wind knocked out of him. Rafaela initially showed discomfort in his upper left leg area and reported some minor hamstring tightness.

It didn’t take long for both players to show they were feeling fine, at least at the plate. In the top of the third inning, Anthony roped a single up the middle against Braves ace Chris Sale, then Rafaela, batting behind him, smashed a two-run homer to dead center. It went 400 feet and left the bat at 101.5 mph. Cora then pulled Rafaela for backup Braiden Ward in the bottom of the fourth.

The Red Sox will surely monitor the health of both players in the coming days. Both Anthony (United States) and Rafaela (Netherlands), along with fellow outfielders Wilyer Abreu (Venezuela), Jarren Duran (Mexico), Masataka Yoshida (Japan) and Nate Eaton (Great Britain) are set to play in the World Baseball Classic, which starts next week. Anthony and Rafaela will depart the Red Sox to join their national teams soon.

The collision was a reminder of some of the communication issues that plagued the Red Sox at key moments last year. Memorably, a miscommunication between Rafaela and Duran almost cost the Sox a game in Baltimore in late August before Rafaela homered and secured a win.

“Lack of communication,” Cora told reporters after the game. “We’ve got to be better. When that doesn’t happen, things like that can happen.”

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