Ceddanne Rafaela

Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 8", Weight 152 lb.

Debut August 28, 2023

Born September 18, 2000 in Willemstad Curaçao

Biographical Information[edit]

OF/IF Ceddanne Rafaela was signed by the Boston Red Sox out of Curaçao as an international amateur free agent on July 2, 2017. He had played in the 2012 Little League World Series for the team representing his hometown of Willemstad. He began his professional career in 2018 with the DSL Red Sox 1, batting .271 in 54 games and being named to the Dominican Summer League's mid-season All-Star team. In 2019, he moved over to the U.S., playing for both the GCL Red Sox and the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League, hitting .244/.319/.409 in 44 games. During those first two seasons, he was exclusively an infielder, playing second base, shortstop and third base, but he would later be moved to center field as his primary position.

After sitting out the 2020 season when the minor leagues were shut down by the Coronavirus pandemic, he resumed his career in 2021 with the Salem Red Sox of the Low-A East, where his slash line was .251/.305/.424 in 102 games, with 20 doubles, 9 triples and 10 homers. he also showed good speed by scoring 73 runs and being successful on 23 of 26 stolen base attempts. In 2022, he was named the Red Sox's Minor League Player of the year for a season that started with the Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League and finished with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League. In between, he appeared in the 2022 Futures Game and in 116 games, he batted .299/.342/.539, adding a solid batting average to his already-demonstrated power and speed. He scored 82 runs, drove in 86, hit 32 doubles, 10 triples and 21 RBIs, and stole another 28 baes. Only relatively low walk rate (28 against 113 Ks) was a negative. Following the season, he played against much older competition in the Puerto Rican League, appearing in 19 games for the Criollos de Caguas.

On May 13, 2023 he made national news by stealing six bases in a game for Portland in a 6-2 loss to the Somerset Patriots. He had originally been credited with 7 stolen bases, but the official scorer changed the ruling on his 9th-inning swipe of third base to defensive indifference, given the game was well out of reach by then; he said after the game that he would have wanted to steal home as well, but that manager Chad Epperson wouldn't let him. To put this into perspective, only four major leaguers have stolen that many bases in a game since 1900, with Eddie Collins doing it twice, and the Portland team record for steals in a game was also six (there were three other stolen bases on the night, to increase the mark to 9). His night's work gave him 16 steals through 27 games. Those were the most stolen bases in a minor league game since Rickey Henderson had swiped seven for the Modesto A's in 1977. He was called up to Boston on August 28th. In the interim, he had been promoted to the AAA Worcester Red Sox and was batting .302 with 79 RBIs, 20 homers and 36 steals in 108 games between the two stops. He made his debut on the day of his call-up, being inserted as a defensive replacement in center field in a 13-5 loss to the Houston Astros. He singled off Jose Urquidy in his first big league at-bat. He hit his first career homer on August 12th, a long shot to left field at Fenway Park that easily cleared the Green Monster as he led off the second game of a doubleheader against Carlos Rodón of the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, it was Boston's only run in a 4-1 loss as they were defeated in both ends of the twinbill. In 28 games, he hit .241 with 2 homers, 11 runs and 5 RBIs; he also stole 3 bases in 4 attempts.

In 2024, he made the team out of spring training and was the starting centerfielder on Opening Day, March 28th. On April 8th, on the eve of Boston's home opener, he signed an eight-year contract extension with the team worth $50 million. He started off slowly, hitting .156 after 27 games when he came alive in a 17-0 demolition of the Chicago Cubs on April 27th. In that game, he went 4 for 4 with a double and a homer and also drove in 7 runs.

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