Red Sox name outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela to Opening Day roster
When spring training opened in February Alex Cora told reporters that if Ceddanne Rafaela was going to make the Opening Day roster, it would only be as a center fielder.
On Saturday afternoon, Cora confirmed to media that Rafaela would indeed be joining the club in Seattle for Opening Day on March 28.
“Everything we asked him to do in the offseason, he did. Everything that we asked him to do in Spring Training, he did,” Cora said. “He’s very dynamic, athletic, versatile and he’s a good kid, too, which is awesome. … He’s going to get a lot of at-bats, and most of the time he’s going to be in center field. I do believe that he makes us better.”
Rafaela, 23, is hitting .278 in 20 Grapefruit League games. He’s also added six doubles, three homers and eight RBIs during that span.
“It’s not a final product, we know that, and he knows it,” Cora said. “As [Breslow] has said, the development of the player is not over in Triple-A. Offensively, he’s done a few things that we’ve asked him to do, as far as his hands, and attack the ones [pitches] that we like and take the ones we don’t have to swing at.
“He’s been really good in Spring Training, but it’s still Spring Training. But you can see the trend, and the intent is there.”
With the announcement of Rafaela as the team’s center fielder that means Tyler O’Neill, Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran will lock down the corner outfield spots. Masataka Yoshida will see the majority of his at-bats and playing time as a designated hitter this season.
Boston views Rafaela as a plus-defender and with Vaughn Grissom out until the middle of April, Rafaela will provide some insurance at second base, while also offering the ability to play short stop.
Rafaela had the inside track all spring to make the roster. Despite controlling his own destiny, that didn’t stop him from getting nervous when Cora called him into his office this week.
“Obviously I was kind of nervous, because I didn’t know what was going to happen at that moment,” Rafaela said. “I’ve been waiting for it all spring, so I was excited to see what the plan was.
“[I called] my mom, I called my wife and then my brother. … It was awesome.”
