Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: Ceddanne Rafaela has signature game

Ceddanne Rafaela headlines the Red Sox Prospect Watch

The Boston Red Sox appear to be turning things around. That’s exciting. Rafael Devers is one of the best players in baseball right now. Xander Bogaerts has been incredible, and J.D. Martinez is back to being a hitting machine. However, for a while it was just those three. No one else was really producing.

Now Trevor Story is looking like the big signing that he was. Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Vazquez have had some big hits. Alex Verdugo’s swing is looking better. Franchy Cordero has performed head-and-shoulders above what he was doing in the bigs last year (shoutout for that walk-off grand slam, I had written this part before it happened and now I’m extra happy I had mentioned him). Even the bullpen has been a lot less shaky (John Schreiber has been the hero and helped turn things around).

All this has given fans a lot more hope. While that’s awesome, it makes my job a little bit harder. Why? Because people don’t care about the minor leagues as much when the Major League team is playing at a high level.

The good news is, the Red Sox have one of the most exciting farm systems in baseball. So they can keep your attention even when the team is firing on all cylinders. And this week that was proven by what could be remembered as the signature game of Ceddanne Rafaela’s breakout season.

Red Sox Triple-A (Worcester)

Brayan Bello made his much-anticipated Triple-A debut this week. Unsurprisingly, he put on a show. The right-handed pitcher tossed six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and one walk. He struck out 10. Clearly the stage wasn’t too bright for one of the Red Sox top prospects. Bello is ready for this next challenge.

Andrew Politi also got the call-up to Triple-A this week. And Worcester has not been hesitant to use him so far. The right-handed pitcher has already made three appearances out of the bullpen. In that time, Politi has given up one run on two hits and one walk, striking out four.

Kutter Crawford is back down in Triple-A and he used his first start to remind everyone that he has good stuff. The righty just needs to put it together in the Majors. Crawford went four innings, giving up no runs on zero hits and walks. He did hit a batter, and struck out two.

Eduard Bazardo deserves another look in the Majors. He was great there last year (in a short stint) and has been phenomenal lately in Triple-A. The reliever has a 2.45 ERA, .241 BAA, 1.23 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings. Bazardo made two appearances this week and struck out one batter over two perfect innings.

Josh Winckowski made two starts this week. The first saw him go six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and a walk – striking out nine batters. In his second start, Wink was cruising again. He scuffled at the end though and ended up allowing five runs on six hits in six innings, striking out six. The righty has a 3.13 ERA, .183 BAA, 0.85 WHIP, and 34 strikeouts in 31 2/3 innings.

Triston Casas missed most of the week due to an ankle injury. Apparently he’s fine but the Red Sox are being cautious with him. No reason to do anything rash and stupid. He’s slashing .248/.359/.457 with nine doubles and six home runs this year. Casas has driven in 22 runs and scored 22 more.

Jarren Duran is slashing .313/.389/.536 with nine doubles, two triples, and four home runs. The left-handed hitter has 18 RBI and 23 runs scored, stealing 10 bases in 11 attempts. It feels like Boston needs to make a decision with him sooner, rather than later.

Ryan Fitzgerald holds a .293/.357/.593 slash line with seven doubles, four triples, and nine home runs. The left-handed hitter has a phenomenal 32 runs batted in to go along with 17 runs scored. Fitz is getting some work at first base too. Which really makes it feel like the Red Sox want to give him a look in the Majors at some point.

Jeter Downs is slashing .212/.325/.417 with four doubles, one triple, and seven home runs. The right-handed hitter has 13 RBI and 27 runs scored, to go along with seven steals. Strikeouts have been a serious problem for him (51), but the 20 walks is an encouraging number.

Red Sox Double-A (Portland)

Pedro Castellanos is on an absolute warpath in May. The right-handed hitter ended April with a .116/.171/.217 slash line. However, he’s picked up at least one hit in 15-of-16 games this month and is currently riding a 13-game hitting-streak. Castellanos is slashing .323/.338/.597 in May. And that has brought his overall line up to .214/.248/.397 with seven doubles, one triple, and five home runs. Castellanos has nine runs scored and leads Portland with an impressive 29 RBI.

Devlin Granberg continues to dominate in Double-A. The right-handed hitter now has a .327/.452/.505 slash line with nine doubles, three triples, and one home run. He’s driven in seven runs and scored 18 more, stealing four bases. Granberg has more walks (18) this season than strikeouts (14).

Kole Cottam is slashing .278/.375/.400 with eight doubles and one home runs. The right-handed hitter has seven runs batted in and 14 more runs scored. Cottam is still playing great defensively at catcher, and has gotten unlucky with some really hard hit balls getting robbed or going right to someone. Expect the power to surge soon.

Christian Koss has had an interesting season. The right-handed hitting shortstop has a .287/.321/.426 slash line with three doubles, three triples, and three home runs. He’s driven in 21 runs and scored 15 more, stealing six bases. Good speed and better pop than his numbers at the moment indicate.

David Hamilton has been mired in a pretty long slump. But the left-handed hitter still has pretty strong numbers overall. The .242/.329/.406 slash line isn’t terrible, hitting three doubles, three triples, and four home runs. It’s the run production that’s still great. Hamilton has 17 RBI and 17 runs scored, to go along with a ridiculous 17 steals.

Chris Murphy really doesn’t get talked about enough. Now that Bello is in Triple-A maybe people will start to notice Murph more. The left-handed pitcher has a 1.91 ERA, .160 BAA, and 0.97 WHIP on the year. In 42 1/3 innings, he’s racked up 51 strikeouts. He’s given up two or fewer earned runs in every single appearance this year.

Dylan Spacke has been great all year. This week the right-hander tossed four shutout innings, giving up just four hits and striking out four. He now holds a 2.41 ERA, .150 BAA, and 1.23 WHIP in 18 2/3 innings. Spacke does have 14 walks compared to 16 strikeouts, which is a bit of an issue. But his no-walk outing this week definitely gives some hope in that area.

Brandon Walter had an incredible bounce-back performance this week after two bad outings last week. The left-handed pitcher gave up just one run on four hits over seven innings. In that game, he walked none while striking out a season-high 11 batters. Walter now has a 3.14 ERA, .211 BAA, 0.88 WHIP, and 60 strikeouts compared to just three walks over 43 innings this season.

Jay Groome had one of the weirdest outings of the week. In six innings he gave up seven hits, walked two batters, hit another one, and only struck out one (despite that usually being a strength of his game). However, Groome also didn’t give up a run. The left-handed pitcher has a 3.45 ERA, .229 BAA, 1.24 WHIP, and 29 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings this year.

Oddanier Mosqueda tossed three innings over two appearances this week. The lefty gave up no runs on just one hit, striking out five. He now has a 3.38 ERA, .190 BAA, 0.94 WHIP, and 19 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched.

Chase Shugart’s fantastic year out of the bullpen continues. The right-handed pitcher has a 2.37 ERA, .206 BAA, and 1.05 WHIP in 13 appearances. He’s struck out 18 batters compared to six walks over 19 innings.

Frank German has some absurd numbers this season. The right-handed pitcher has a 3.18 ERA, .158 BAA, and 0.79 WHIP in 11 appearances. He has already racked up 18 strikeouts compared to three walks in just 11 1/3 innings pitched.

Red Sox High-A (Greenville)

There were a few candidates to headline this week, but it had to go to Ceddanne Rafaela. In wrestling there’s always that signature moment or match that people look back on and said “that’s when they became a star”. For Rafaela, his signature moment as a Red Sox prospect came this week. And it will be looked back as the moment that fans finally started to really pay attention to him.

This week saw Rafaela have a couple good games, none better than when he hit for the cycle. Picking up a single, then a double, then a triple, and finally a home run. On the year, the right-handed hitter is slashing .315/.358/.580. He’s already picked up 12 doubles, two triples, and nine home runs (his career-high is 10). Rafaela’s run production is out of this world with 29 RBI, 34 runs scored and 11 steals. Elite defense being displayed all over the field too. Everyone knows who he is now.

Matthew Lugo started off scorching hot, but cooled off considerably for a bit. Now the shortstop is back to raking at a ridiculous level. The right-handed hitter is slashing .324/.380/.588 with 11 doubles, five triples, and five home runs. He’s driven in 28 runs and scored 21 more, stealing six bases.

Nicholas Northcut is slashing .252/.307/.646 with five doubles and an otherworldly 15 home runs on the year. The right-handed hitter has 32 runs batted in and 20 more runs scored. It’s hard to complain too much because the power has been insane, but he has had a bit of a strikeout problem (52) compared to just seven walks. Northcut did draw a walk in his last game though and if he can get those numbers up a bit it’s scary to think of the damage he could do.

Alex Binelas has been getting his numbers back up recently. The left-handed hitter holds a .267/.410/.542 slash line with three doubles and 10 home runs. He’s driven in 28 runs and scored 28 more. Meanwhile Binelas has some deceptive speed, stealing six bases in six attempts.

Nick Yorke really feels like he’s on the cusp of breaking out at any moment. He’s had a lot of hard-hit balls that have led to outs lately. The overall .254/.329/.373 slash line with four doubles and four home runs isn’t bad. But with some luck it could’ve been a lot better. Anyone watching can see the hits will start falling soon though. The right-handed hitter has 18 RBI and 24 runs scored, to go along with five steals.

Tyler McDonough is slashing .231/.329/.434 with seven doubles, two triples, and six home runs. The switch-hitter has 20 runs driven in and 26 runs scored, going 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts so far. While his average hasn’t been great, he’s produced nicely everywhere else offensively. So you shouldn’t be worried.

Gilberto Jimenez is slashing .262/.302/.459 with seven doubles, one triple, and five home runs. The switch-hitter has 14 runs batted in, 19 more runs scored, and eight steals. Jimenez has added some power, but the average has dipped and the strikeouts have gone up. This is mainly due to a change in his swing. Hopefully he can right the ship in those categories as he gets more comfortable though. That speed is still just absolutely insane.

Ryan Zeferjahn is quietly having himself a fantastic year. And the right-handed pitcher had a great performance this week, tossing 3 1/3 shutout innings in relief. Zeferjahn has a 2.84 ERA, .182 BAA, and 1.16 WHIP in eight appearances out of the bullpen this year. The reliever has 20 strikeouts over 19 innings pitched.