Red Sox continue to ‘be patient’ with Ceddanne Rafaela on Opening Day roster spot
With Opening Day just two weeks away, the Red Sox outfield puzzle should begin to take shape. Ceddanne Rafaela, the club’s No. 4 overall prospect according to SoxProspects remains the center of conversation outside of who’ll win spots in the rotation.
Since the beginning of camp, Red Sox manager Alex Cora has maintained that if Rafaela were to make the team, he would have to win the starting center field job. The young outfielder’s defense is elite, his bat remains is the one wart of his whole game.
“My preference is, if he makes the club, he plays center,” Cora said to reporters on Wednesday. “The reason [he has a chance to make this club] is because we do believe he can impact that position better than anyone else on this roster.”
This spring, the 23-year-old is hitting .250 with three homers, seven RBIs, two stolen bases and owns a .908 OPS. He’s performed well offensively, enough to make the Red Sox think twice over his roster status, but Cora hasn’t committed to the idea naming Rafaela his starting center fielder.
“This is something I learned over the years, [not to read into] 10-for-20 or 0-for-20 [in Spring Training],” Cora said. “Like right now, I bet everybody's going crazy with Abreu because he’s striking out. Well, he's getting on base. He's not getting hits, but he has [8] walks. He has [14] strikeouts, yeah, we know that, but that’s not telling the whole story.”
The sample size in spring training is small but the outfielder is focused and enjoying the chance the Red Sox is giving him this spring.
“It’s a good opportunity for me,” Rafaela said. “That’s how I have to look at it. I know what’s available.”
If Rafaela makes the Opening Day roster, Jarren Duran would slide into left field, while Wilyer Abreu and Tyler O’Neill would platoon - for now in right field.
“We’ve just got to be patient with the trends that we’re looking for,” Cora said. “He's improved in pitch selection, we know that. There’s other stuff that we want to see or we’re going to use to evaluate. And whenever we make that decision, I do believe it will be the right one.”
