What to expect from Ceddanne Rafaela in the Majors
A particular glove will assist a prospect climb the Minor League ranks. An bettering bat on prime of that glove will punch his ticket to The Show.
The Red Sox referred to as up No. 77 general prospect Ceddanne Rafaela to the Majors on Monday. The transfer got here forward of Boston’s essential three-game sequence with Houston at Fenway Park. The Sox sit 4 1/2 video games again of the Astros for the ultimate AL Wild Card spot on the time of the callup.
Rafaela’s promotion comes after fellow outfielder Wilyer Abreu was transferred to the paternity listing, however with rosters set to develop to twenty-eight on Sept. 1, there’s an opportunity the Red Sox No. 3 prospect, who was already on the 40-man roster earlier than Monday, might stick round some time longer as soon as Abreu returns.
The 22-year-old brings instantaneous highlight-worthy protection to Boston’s Major League roster, and it’s a glove that may play at a number of spots, significantly middle area and shortstop. Rafaela has plus velocity that will assist observe down balls anyway, however he doesn’t at all times want it as a result of his instincts and reactions off the bat are so distinctive that he’ll be in the appropriate place on the proper time no matter wheels.
“Making those plays, for me, it’s huge because a lot of baseball players only think offensively,” Rafaela advised MLB Pipeline in Spring Training. “They want to hit home runs and doubles and stuff. I love to make plays, too. I think I like to make plays more than I do to hit a home run. It doesn’t only help me because I’m helping my teammate too, the pitcher, and that makes me feel good that I’m helping the team.”
Since making his Triple-A Worcester debut on June 29, the 5-foot-9 prospect has made 41 of his 47 defensive begins in middle with six extra coming at brief. While Rafaela does have earlier expertise at second, third and each nook outfield spots, he has solely performed these two premium positions in 2023. He’ll bump up in opposition to the red-hot Adam Duvall for taking part in time in middle whereas the wholesome Trevor Story stays a lock at brief, however it’s a protected wager that supervisor Alex Cora will worth Rafaela’s versatility from the bench.
A right-handed hitter, Rafaela had additionally proven spectacular beneficial properties within the field resulting in Monday’s promotion. He hit .312/.370/.618 with 14 homers and 6 steals in 48 complete video games with Worcester. Combined together with his six homers and 30 steals from his earlier stint with Double-A Portland, he’s one in all 14 20-20 performers within the Minor Leagues up to now in 2023, and he’s one in all solely two repeat 20-20 guys alongside fellow Top 100 prospect Ronny Mauricio.
Dig past these numbers, nonetheless, and there’s cause to imagine Rafaela can be extra of a mean energy hitter within the Majors. Of the 151 balls he batted into play at Triple-A, 69 exceeded the hard-hit customary of 95 mph. That 45.7 p.c hard-hit price would rank fourth amongst Red Sox hitters with no less than 150 batted-ball occasions in 2023 — proper between Triston Casas (46.2) and Masataka Yoshida (41.5) — whereas his max exit velocity of 106.4 mph would rank final.
Rafaela has accomplished a greater job of elevating the ball on contact as he’s moved up the Red Sox ladder, however 25.9 p.c of his flyballs ended up over the fence at Triple-A — a price that isn’t anticipated to be sustainable within the Majors, particularly with the relative lack of uncooked pop.
What deserves closest watching can be Rafaela’s aggressiveness on the prime degree. He walked solely 5.5 p.c of the time with Worcester, the Eleventh-lowest BB price amongst 336 Triple-A gamers with no less than 200 plate appearances in 2023. Rafaela swung at 55.1 p.c of the pitches he noticed with the WooSox; the Major League common swing price in 2023 is 47.3 p.c. He particularly tends to develop the zone on the inner-third of the plate, each up and above the zone, and that’s a degree of aggression that Major League pitchers might benefit from in methods their Triple-A counterparts weren’t.
Regardless of how the bat performs upon arrival, Rafaela brings vitality via his glovework and velocity to Fenway at a time when Boston ought to be making an all-hands-on-deck cost towards the postseason. The Green Monster and right-center triangle have a brand new protector.
