Boston Red Sox prospect Ceddanne Rafaela hit for the cycle on Tuesday
I said it during this week’s prospect watch, and I stand by it. Whenever I feel like I’m talking about Boston Red Sox prospect Ceddanne Rafaela, he does something incredible. Then suddenly it feels like he’s not being talked about enough.
Rafaela hit for the cycle in Tuesday’s High-A game between the Greenville Drive and Hickory Crawdads. Greenville won the game 11-6 and Rafaela was a major reason why.
Playing centerfield in the game (feels necessary to say because you never know where he’ll be on any given night), the right-handed hitter went 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. He started off the night with a single, then followed it up with a double his next at-bat. Next time up Rafaela struck out but not until after a long nine-pitch battle.
The fourth at-bat of the game saw Rafaela smoke an RBI-triple to deep centerfield. Finally, in the bottom of the eighth he got one last chance. Following up a Tyler McDonough home run, Rafaela got a 2-0 pitch he liked and absolutely turned on it. Showing off that surprising power for his size (5’8″, 152 lbs), he hit the ball on a frozen rope over the left field wall, completing the cycle.
It was great to see how excited his teammates were for Rafaela. He was greeted with a lot of high fives and hugs in the dugout.
More importantly though, this was his coming out party.
Rafaela was great last season. He’s an elite defender at so many different positions (outfield, shortstop, second base, and third base). And his bat really started to pick up later in the season.
However, this year he’s been on a completely different level. But even with the great numbers on the year, it felt like fans weren’t talking about him. This could change that. He now has that signature game.
The 21-year-old is now slashing .312/.353/.567 with 10 doubles, one triple, and eight home runs this season. He’s driven in 26 runs, scored 28 more, and stolen 10 bases. It’s really just an amazing all-around talent that he has. Everything gets done.
Currently ranked as the Boston Red Sox 27th overall prospect and not in the top-100 overall in the league, I’m about to make a bold statement that I truly believe. There are not 100 prospects in baseball better than Rafaela.
Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela isn’t just the best name in baseball, he’s one of the best prospects too. Go debate a wall, because I’m not budging on that.