Boston Red Sox outfielder’s catch crashing into wall feels ‘same as a home run’

Red Sox' Ceddanne Rafaela has played elite defense in center field. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)AP

Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela loves hearing the roar of the crowd after making a highlight catch.

“Same as when you hit a home run,” Rafaela said, smiling. “It’s fun.”

Rafaela sprinted back to the warning track in the ninth inning Thursday, made a catch on Josh Jung’s 419-foot, 107.9 mph fly ball into the triangle and hung onto it after he crashed against the wall.

The Red Sox won 5-0 over the Rangers here at Fenway Park.

Reliever Liam Hendriks raised both arms as he saw Rafaela record the ninth inning’s first out. Jung’s fly ball had a .990 expected batting average, per Statcast.

“I think that I had a good pre-pitch,” Rafaela said. “I kind of knew where the ball was going. So that helped me a lot. And the tough part was the sky and the wall. So it was a tough catch.”

Rafaela needed to figure out how close he was getting to the wall while tracking the ball in the sky, which he called “really bright.”

“It was a bright sky today but the sun wasn’t there,” he said. “So I couldn’t use sunglasses so it was a tough sky today.”

Rafaela entered Thursday with seven defensive runs saved in 277 ⅔ innings in center field this year. His defense is so valuable that he has a 1.0 WAR despite slashing just .239/.298/.345/.643 in 125 plate appearances.

“It’s ridiculous, man,” Trevor Story said. “I think you can put him up there with anybody in the game in center field. Just from the plays that he makes, the balls that he gets to, I feel like he always finishes them. There are a lot of guys who can get there but he finishes them. He’s in my eyes one of the best defenders in the game, and I think everybody’s starting to see it.”