Red Sox
“He ends up with it and you’re kind of in awe. Even though you see him do it before, again and again.”
Ceddanne Rafaela had a good night at the plate in the Red Sox’ crucial 9-5 win over the Royals on Monday — going 2-for-4 and scoring a run.
But the promising rookie’s greatest contribution at Kauffman Stadium was in the outfield, with Rafaela making one of the best catches of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With the Red Sox and Royals knotted in a 2-2 deadlock, Maikel Garcia took a hanging curveball from Boston starter James Paxton and promptly golfed the offering into deep center field.
Rafaela ran back towards the wall in center, attempting to track the smoked pitch. At the last second, Rafaela extended his glove behind his back — snatching the ball at the warning track just before it dropped to the ground for an extra-base hit.
“I didn’t have the perfect route,” Rafaela said of the catch, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “But I was sprinting back, I just tried to catch the ball. I didn’t really think about having to make it backhanded. It just happened in the moment.”
You can watch Rafaela’s catch in the video below:
“He’s so special,” Alex Cora said of Rafaela’s defensive capabilities. “He’s elite in center field. That play was amazing. It’s a long way there, it’s 411 (feet). Obviously, there’s a lot of room to cover and he did an amazing job.”
Rafaela has compiled an extensive highlight reel of diving catches in the outfield during his time in the Red Sox organization.
But the 23-year-old outfielder’s versatility has also been put on display in the infield this season — with Rafaela also logging plenty of reps at shortstop to help fill the void after Trevor Story’s season-ending injury just over a week into the 2024 season.
According to J.P. Long of the Red Sox, Rafaela is the first player since at least 1901 to play 60+ games at shortstop and 60+ games in center field in the same season.
“He’s unbelievable,” Connor Wong said of Rafaela, per McAdam. “You see him, tracking a ball down like that. He ends up with it and you’re kind of in awe. Even though you see him do it before, again and again. You’re just impressed every time. (Moving between short and center) makes it more impressive, too. But the kind of athlete he is, he can do it all.”
Beyond his defensive skills at two critical areas on the field at shortstop and center field, Rafaela’s production at the plate has also contributed to his case for American League Rookie of the Year consideration.
Rafaela currently leads all American League rookies in RBI (57), hits (102), and runs (56) — while ranking second in that same group in home runs (13) and steals (16), behind teammate David Hamilton (28).
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