Red Sox' Ceddanne Rafaela quietly having great April
Odd man out? Not so fast.
Buried at the bottom of the batting order, Boston Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela is quietly having a tremendous April.
Speed, defense, timely hitting and the occasional Ball 4 have become commonplace for the polarizing center fielder, who many have predetermined is the odd man out when the Red Sox call up top prospect Roman Anthony.
Across 17 games in April, 63 plate appearances, Rafaela is hitting .273 with a .747 OPS and 0.7 fWAR to go with a 9.5% walk rate and five stolen bases.
Is that the sexiest slash line in the world? No. But what does, for someone as fast (84th percentile sprint speed) as he is, is the 9.5% walk rate elevating his OBP to .365 during that stretch.
The thump hasn’t shown yet, as he has just the one home run, but as far as the quality of at-bats goes, it’s been night and day from 2024.
He’s still shown flashes of his old self, as in April he’s still swinging 57.9% of the time in April, but we can’t praise shortstop Trevor Story’s excellence whilst swinging at 57.7% of pitches while ripping Rafaela for overswinging.
Listen, chase will always be a part of his game. A leopard doesn’t change its spots, and sadly Rafaela’s flaws can be easily exploited if he isn’t making contact early within the zone. However, when he’s putting the ball in play, he is simply a very effective bottom-of-the-order hitter.
In April, Rafaela has the lowest called strike plus whiff rate (21.5%) of the eight qualified Red Sox bats in April. This is in addition to being third behind Alex Bregman and Story in fWAR this month.
Moving away from the offense, which is what has carried him to a very good April, you cannot speak on Rafaela without talking about his glove.
He is in the 96th percentile for outs above average and arm strength, as well as leading MLB center fielders in defensive runs saved (tied with Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs).
Jury is still out on if he can consistently hunt strikes, but if he does, he’s going to make it hard for the Red Sox to take him out of the lineup.
