BOSTON — Ceddanne Rafaela struggled mightily in his first 66 games this season. He batted .210 with a .237 on-base percentage, .358 slugging percentage and .595 OPS in 243 plate appearances.
The 23-year-old right-handed hitting rookie made some swing adjustments, including positioning his hands lower to give him a better chance to get to pitches quicker. The adjustments have worked.
Since June 12, Rafaela has batted .324 with a .359 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage, .859 OPS, five homers, seven doubles, two triples, 18 RBIs and 23 runs in 39 games (156 plate appearances).
The Red Sox center fielder/shortstop said the biggest difference doesn’t have to do with adjustment of his hands or anything like that though.
“I want it,” Rafaela said when asked the biggest difference for his turnaround. “I really want it right now.”
It’s not that he didn’t want it at the beginning of the year. He did. And he’s actually wanted to win AL Rookie of the Year since childhood.
But he understands it has taken him time at every level before performing at his best. So instead of feeling discouraged and continuing to struggle more, he put in the work. He described it as “finding himself,” something he had to do at different levels of the minors.
“When I get to that point that I find myself, I think that’s when I do good things,” Rafaela said. “And I think I’m at that point right now. … The first month, I was really trying to find myself and be more consistent. But I’m happy where I’m at right now. I’m helping the team. It’s not only with my at-bats but my defense.”
Rafaela’s OPS has increased 103 points since June 12. He also is playing elite outfield defense. He has five defensive runs saved in 433 ⅓ innings in center field. He hasn’t played the same level of defense at shortstop (-6 DRS, 462 innings) but he has improved there and helped stabilize the infield in Trevor Story’s absence.
Rafaela (1.3 WAR) has the sixth best odds (+1200) to win Al Rookie of the Year, behind Orioles’ Colton Cowser (+125), Yankees’ Luis Gil (+280), Yankees’ Austin Wells (+450), Rangers’ Wyatt Langford (+700) and Tigers’ Colt Keith (+1000), per DraftKings.
Rafaela has a chance at it with a big second half. Triston Casas finished third last year after posting a .184/.300/.342/.642 line in his first 49 games.
“To be honest with you, that was a goal growing up,” Rafaela said. “It’s an honor for me to be in the talk with other good players. So yeah, obviously it’s on my mind but it’s not something I’m going to stress myself out about. I just want to win ballgames.”
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For a small guy, Rafaela hits the ball hard. Rafaela led all Red Sox minor leaguers in extra-base hits in 2022 and ‘23.
“I think it’s part of my bat speed and knowing my body,” Rafaela said. “I think it’s more about how to hit the ball. (Find the barrel) and it’s going to be a hard hit ball.”
Manager Alex Cora said Rafaela has made himself “part of the conversation” for AL Rookie of the Year.
“What he’s doing is very unique,” Cora said. “To play center and to play shortstop a lot, that’s very unique. And I think offensively, he’s making strides. He’s getting better.”
There still remain plenty of areas where Rafaela needs to improve. While he has posted an .859 OPS over the past 39 games, he has just four walks while striking out 35 times during the stretch.
All his Baseball Savant batting percentiles are in the blue. Rafaela ranks in the one percentile in chase percentage (44%), second percentile in walk percentage (3.0%), seventh percentile in whiff percentage (32.4%) and 24th percentile (25.8%).
But Cora already views Rafaela as one of his best players because of his all-around game. The rookie has started 101 out of Boston’s 107 games.
“When your best players are on the field most of the time, you have a chance to win a lot of games,” Cora said in reference to Rafaela and Jarren Duran who has started every game. “So far, so good. I’m not even concerned with them. They’ve been able to hold up and the numbers show that in there, in the training room, so we’ll keep pushing them.”
Cora pointed to athleticism as one of the reasons both Rafaela and Duran have been able to play so much.
“It’s not only what you see in between the lines,” Cora said. “It’s what they do here in the training room, in the weight room, taking care of their bodies. We’ve been playing him a lot. Raffy (Devers) has been playing a lot, too, this year.”
