Rafael Rivas (Spain)

Rafael Eduardo Rivas Viñas

• Born Both, Throws Right
• 'Height 5' 10", Weight 172 lb.

• Born February 5, 1983

Biographical Information

Rafael Rivas has played in Spain's Division Honor, leading the league in steals every year from 2008-2010. In 2008, he hit .315/.453/.396 with 20 walks in 30 games for CB Sant Boi. He stole 21 bases in 23 tries and scored 32 runs. He led the league in runs, was third in OBP, was third in walks (behind Jose Cruz and Félix Isasi Jr.), was second in times hit by pitch (8) and led in steals (8 ahead of Daniel Sánchez). The infielder had 100 assists, second to Oscar Angulo.

In 2009, the 26-year-old put up a .336/.441/.418 line with 27 walks, 37 runs and 18 steals (caught 8 times) in 36 contests for Sant Boi. He fell to 11th in OBP, tied Sánchez for second in runs, tied Richard Montiel for 9th in doubles (10), led in walks, led in steals and tied Angulo for the most steal attempts. He was 5th with 108 assists and tied for third with 13 errors. Rafael was at .277/.451/.337 with 34 runs, 26 walks and 16 steals (in 19 tries) in 30 games. He finished fourth in walks and tied for the steal lead. In the 2010 European Cup, he was 4 for 15 with a double and a steal; only Sánchez had a better average for Sant Boi.

During the 2011 European Cup, Rivas hit .474/.565/.632 with five runs in five games for Sant Boi. He finished third in the Amsterdam round in average (behind teammate Juan Salazar and Germany's Robert Gruber), tied Juan Pablo Angrisano for fourth in hits (9), tied Gruber for third in total bases (12), tied Salazar and Roeland Henrique for the best OBP and ranked fourth in slugging. For the Division Honor season, he hit .364/.479/.455 with 44 runs in 34 games, 27 walks and 16 steals in 21 tries. He led the league in runs by seven and tied Denny Nino and Jesus Golindano for the walk lead but lost the steal title to end his run at three seasons, finishing second to Angulo.

Rivas did not play in Spain in 2012. In 2013, he hit .331/.418/.419 for Sant Boi and fielded .954. He was 6th in runs (31, between Daniel Martinez and Domingo Morillo), tied for 6th in hits (41), led with 102 assists and won his fourth steal title (18 for 18, 5 more swipes than Emmanuel Febles). In the 2013 Bolivarian Games, he played for the Silver Medal-winning Venezuelan national team, hitting .200/.333/.200 with four runs and a RBI while playing error-free ball at 3B. He stole one base in two tries.

Rafael produced at a .327/.451/.477 clip for Sant Boi in 2014, fielding .945. He was 9th in the league with 34 runs, tied for 7th with four homers and was 3rd with 17 steals (without being caught). He was 2 for 11 with 3 walks, 3 runs and a homer as Venezuela's main second baseman and backup third baseman in the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games. The homer came off Wilgeny Perez in a blowout loss to the Dominican national team. In a comeback win against Guatemala, he scored the go-ahead (and winning run) in the 7th, drawing a walk from Guillermo Valdez with the game at 2-2 and scoring on a Douglas Landaeta triple.