TORONTO — Ceddanne Rafaela ended May as one of the weak links of the Red Sox lineup, hitting just .211 with a .626 OPS through the first 57 games of the season. June, however, has been a different story.
Rafaela, who went 3-for-4 and had the game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning of Boston’s come-from-behind 4-3 win Tuesday night at Rogers Centre, is hitting .377 with eight RBIs and an .881 OPS so far this month, quietly giving the Red Sox a ton of production from the No. 9 spot in the lineup. He has hits in seven straight games and multiple hits in his last four. In a lineup with Rafael Devers, Tyler O’Neill, Jarren Duran and others, it’s Rafaela who leads the club with 41 RBIs. A defense-first player has gradually shown significant development on the offensive side things in his first full season of big league action.
