Wikipedia

Ceddanne Rafaela

Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela (born September 18, 2000) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball outfielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Ceddanne Rafaela
Rafaela in 2024
Boston Red Sox – No. 43
Infielder / Outfielder
Born: (2000-09-18) September 18, 2000 (age 24)
Willemstad, Curaçao
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 28, 2023, for the Boston Red Sox
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.246
Home runs17
Runs batted in80
Stolen bases22
Teams

Career

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Rafaela participated in the 2012 Little League World Series as a member of the Willemstad team representing the Caribbean Region.[1] He signed with the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent in July 2017.[2] Rafaela made his professional debut in 2018 with the Dominican Summer League Red Sox. In 2019, he played for the Gulf Coast Red Sox batting .248/.330/.425 and Lowell Spinners batting .182/.167/.182.

Rafaela did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] In 2021, he played for the Salem Red Sox, batting .251/.305/.424.[4] He started 2022 with the Greenville Drive before being promoted to the Portland Sea Dogs.[5][6] Rafaela was selected to the 2022 All-Star Futures Game.[7] For the season, Rafaela was named minor-league Defensive Player of the Year by the Red Sox organization.[8] On November 15, Rafaela was added to Boston's 40-man roster.[9]

In January 2023, Rafaela was ranked the 71st best prospect by Baseball America list and the 53rd best prospect by Fangraphs.[10][11] Rafaela was initially optioned to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox to begin the 2023 season.[12] However, on March 28, the Red Sox announced that Rafaela would begin back in Double-A Portland so he could work on his approach at the plate without having to adjust to the higher level.[13] On May 13, Rafaela set a franchise record after stealing six bases in a game against the Somerset Patriots—he was initially credited with seven steals but had one taken away due to defensive indifference.[14] Rafaela was promoted to Worcester on June 28.[15] On August 28, he was added to Boston's major-league roster.[16] He made his MLB debut that evening, hitting a single in his first at bat.[17] On September 12, in the second game of the doubleheader against the New York Yankees, Rafaela hit his first major-league home run, estimated at 400 feet, off Carlos Rodón.[18] In September, Rafaela was recognized as the Red Sox' minor-league baserunner of the year for 2023.[19] In 2023 with the Red Sox, he had a slash line of .241/.281/.386.[20]

Rafaela was on Boston's Opening Day roster to begin the 2024 season.[21] On April 8, 2024, Rafaela signed an eight-year, $50 million contract extension with the Red Sox, locking him up through the 2031 season. [22] On July 5, 2024, Rafaela hit a two-run home run in the top of the tenth inning to help secure a 5-3 win for the Red Sox against the New York Yankees in his first game at Yankee Stadium.[23]

In 2024, he batted .246/.274/.390 with 15 home runs and 75 RBIs. He walked 2.6% of the time, the lowest percentage in Major League Baseball.[24]

Personal life

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Rafaela's middle name of "Chipper" comes from Chipper Jones, due to his mother being a fan of the Atlanta Braves.[25] He speaks English, Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamento.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Stiefel, Keagan (February 8, 2023). "Red Sox Prospect Outlook: Can Ceddanne Rafaela Exceed Insane 2022 Season?". NESN. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Speier, Alex (April 28, 2022). "Red Sox' most improbable prospect is power-hitting 5-8 utilityman Ceddanne Rafaela". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  3. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  4. ^ Speier, Alex (April 16, 2022). "Ceddanne Rafaela Makes More Hard Contact For Red Sox". Baseball America. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  5. ^ Smith, Christopher (April 20, 2022). "Boston Red Sox's other Raffy: Ceddanne Rafaela is 76 pounds lighter than Rafael Devers but has 5 homers, 5 doubles in 10 games". MassLive.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  6. ^ "Surging Red Sox Prospect Ceddanne Rafaela to Make Double-A Debut". June 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (July 14, 2022). "Here are the 2022 Futures Game rosters". MLB.com. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  8. ^ Woodward, Will (September 27, 2022). "Minor Notes: Red Sox announce their Players of the Year & Portland's playoff run ends". soxprospects.com. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  9. ^ "Red Sox Roster & Staff – Transactions". MLB.com. Boston Red Sox. November 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Abraham, Peter (January 21, 2023). "Sunday Baseball Notes". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  11. ^ "The List". FanGraphs Baseball. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  12. ^ "Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Shipped to minor-league camp". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  13. ^ "Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Will begin season in Double-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  14. ^ "Red Sox prospect steals SIX bases in one game". mlb.com. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  15. ^ Cassell, Tommy (August 28, 2023). "Meet one of the top Red Sox prospects, who recently earned a promotion to Triple-A Worcester". Telegram & Gazette. Worcester, Massachusetts. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  16. ^ "Red Sox Announce Roster Moves". MLB.com (Press release). Boston Red Sox. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  17. ^ "Ceddanne Rafaela's first hit". MLB.com. August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  18. ^ Browne, Ian (September 13, 2023). "Rafaela shows off light-tower power with 1st big league homer". mlb.com. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  19. ^ Speier, Alex (September 26, 2023). "Minor league honors offer Red Sox chance to reflect on their developing homegrown pitching pipeline". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "Ceddanne Rafaela Minor & Winter Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  21. ^ Speier, Alex (March 23, 2024). "Red Sox name Ceddanne Rafaela to Opening Day roster". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  22. ^ "Rookie Rafaela agrees to 8-year extension with Red Sox (source)". MLB.com. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  23. ^ "Red Sox stun Yankees 5-3 on 2-run homers by Yoshida in the 9th and Rafaela in the 10th". ESPN.com.
  24. ^ "2024 Major League Leaders," Fangraphs.
  25. ^ Ryan, Conor (August 28, 2023). "5 things to know about Red Sox prospect Ceddanne Rafaela after his call-up to MLB". Boston.com. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  26. ^ Smith, Christopher (July 6, 2022). "Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela has quick hands, bat speed like Mookie Betts, speaks 4 languages like Xander Bogaerts". masslive. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
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