WORCESTER — When Ceddanne Rafaela is on the basepaths, even his manager knows he needs to keep his head up and his eyes on the speedster, or else he might miss another electric play.
“I have to keep my eyes on him, because my instinct is ‘oh, they threw [the ball] away, he’ll go to second,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy. “I’ll start to look down and take a note and all of a sudden I hear commotion, and this guy’s going to third or going to home. He’s a very intelligent player.”
Rafaela has been keeping International League opponents – and his own coaches – on their toes since his promotion to Triple-A in early July. A couple times during the WooSox’ homestand against the Red Wings, Rafaela took multiple extra bases on bad throws – in one of Wednesday’s games, he got himself into scoring position on a bad pickoff throw and eventually scored, and on Thursday, he turned a pitch in the dirt while on first base into a run, taking second, forcing a bad throw and then speeding all the way around the bases to score.
“It’s crazy, you can’t take your eyes off of him. His instincts are through the roof and he never takes his eye off the ball, he’s always glancing over his shoulder, like, where’s the ball, what are they doing with it?” Tracy said. “He’s always looking to take an extra 90 feet. It’s just unreal some of the stuff he’s done. No other way to describe it than that. You better not take your eyes off him, if you do, he is going to look to take advantage of it.”
Rafaela hasn’t seemed to have much difficulty adjusting to the highest level of the minor leagues. His 14-game hitting streak was just snapped on Friday with an 0-for-4 night, a rarity for the 22-year-old, who hitting .306 with a slugging percentage near .600 in 24 games with the . But sometimes those nights serve as a reminder of just that fact: that he’s only 22, and still has a lot to learn through simply experiencing the game.
Hitting coach Rich Gedman sees the talent in Rafaela as well.
“He really fielder both and outfield and in the infield, competitive by nature, really bright. Wants to learn everything,” Gedman said. “If we had a bunch of him on the team, we’d be really, really good.”
Of course, there’s room for improvement. Understanding his strike zone and choosing which pitches to expand his zone on are a couple of the adjustments the coaching staff is working on with Rafaela, and Tracy said they’re already seeing improvements.
Rafaela is eager to learn, and already has a great understanding of the game and what decisions to make.
“Through the roof,” Tracy said of Rafaela’s baseball IQ. “One of the sharper and more intelligent players I’ve been around honestly in my career, just as far as the little nuances and things like that where you feel like there’s a player that knows he has a skill and he is looking to use it. He seems like he’s a step ahead of the opposition and it’s fun to watch and it’s exciting when you have a player like that.”
Red Wings 1, WooSox 0 (suspended)
The WooSox hoped they’d have a window to play, and were able to get a little over an inning and a half in, but the skies opened up in the bottom of the second and after a long delay, the umpires decided there wasn’t a big enough window of good weather to get in the game.
Brandon Walter was only scheduled to throw about 50 pitches as he ramps back up from a stint in the bullpen, and got all 50 pitches in, allowing one run on three hits and two walks. Walter worked out of two-on, two-out jam in the second despite walking the second-to-last batter he faced.
Bobby Dalbec and Rafaela ripped singles before the game was suspended.
Notes
Former professional baseball player Maybelle Blair threw out the first pitch during the WooSox game on July 29, 2023 (Katie Morrison-O’Day / MassLive)
– It was Women in Sports Day at Polar Park on Saturday, which began with a special panel featuring former baseball player Maybelle Blair, who was portrayed by Madonna in the movie A League of Their Own; longtime NESN personality Jayme Parker; president, CEO and COO of the Rochester Red Wings, Naomi Silver; ballpark architect and executive Janet Marie Smith; and Marti Sementelli, a pitcher for the U.S. National Women’s Baseball team.
Blair had the crowd in the DCU Center engaged and entertained, telling stories about filming A League Of Their Own and playing baseball in the All-American Girls League in the 1940s.
“Sliding on gravel with no sliding pads, I’m still picking pebbles out of my rear end all these years later,” Blair joked.
Blair is a big advocate for a women’s baseball league and their own hall of fame.
“I’m the most luckiest person in the world. I saw the beginning and I’m seeing what’s happening and what will happen and it will happen,” Blair said. “And as long as I’m on this side of the dirt, I’m going to keep trying to push it as much as I can.”
– Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy wanted to take home some gear from the first player collaboration line of clothes in minor league baseball, asking Ryan Fitzgerald for one of his “Fitzy” shirts that can be bought in the team store. Fitzgerald of course agreed, under one condition: the manager had to wear the shirt on the field with his team. LeCroy obliged, with a small adjustment, taping over the Worcester “W” on the shirt and rocking it during Saturday’s infield drills.
What’s Next
The WooSox and Red Wings will pick up where they left off Saturday on Sunday afternoon at 12:05 p.m. before playing a seven-inning regularly-scheduled game after the conclusion. They’ll then be joined by Chris Sale on the road trip to Syracuse as the lefty’s rehab assignment begins next week.
