The Boston Red Sox are enduring a rough stretch, both in the standings and in the clubhouse. The team now sits at .500 after its second loss in a row to the Detroit Tigers, giving up double-digit runs in both outings. And the team has struggled to move past some clubhouse controversy surrounding franchise player Rafael Devers, who has openly refused to switch positions and publicly criticized the organization for asking him to do so.

But Devers isn’t the only player at the center of some controversy with the team. MassLive’s Sean McAdam recently reported that a young outfielder has been a source of grief for the coaching staff as well. “There’s some growing frustration within the Red Sox organization about outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela,” McAdam reported. “More than once, Rafaela has been advised in the dugout to take the first pitch in his next at-bat, only to swing freely minutes later. Rafaela showed in spring training that he could be more selective at the plate, but that discipline has mostly disappeared in the regular season.”

McAdam’s report comes in the midst of a rough .242/.299/.371 campaign for Rafaela that has included 25 strikeouts against just 32 hits. On paper, his performance does seem like one that might frustrate Red Sox coaches, given the promise he showed before signing an extension with the team. But after McAdam’s report was shared on X, Red Sox hitting coach Dillon Lawson fired back a clear five-word response.

“This is news to me,” he wrote as a reply. It would be one thing for the Red Sox organization to ignore McAdam’s reporting, but for a representative to go out of their way to directly refute it is another. The team is surely hoping that Rafaela turns it around at the plate soon, whether “frustration” is really growing or not.