Fort Myers, Florida: During spring training, Red Sox prospect Ceddanne Rafaela will be given every chance to secure the starting center field position.
At JetBlue Park on Tuesday, manager Alex Cora had his first media conference. He was asked which outfield players—Tyler O’Neill, Jarren Duran, and Wilyer Abreu—were the most likely contenders to play center field.
Rafaela will play center field, in my opinion, if he joins the squad, Cora stated.
Rafaela can play center field and win a gold glove. Currently, the question is whether the 23-year-old is offensively ready. Because of his extreme aggression, he frequently chases pitches that are outside of the strike zone. Rafaela had a 38.8% chase percentage, 29.0% whiff rate, 31.5% strikeout percentage, and 4.5% walk percentage in 89 bat appearances before being promoted to Boston in late August.
Rafaela’s offensive potential is enormous. His dexterous hands have allowed him to lead all Red Sox minor leaguers in extra-base hits the last three seasons. However, the Red Sox may have to give up some offensive points at the moment to prioritize his excellent defense.
Rafaela is ranked No. 94 in Baseball America’s Top 100. He was recently ranked as the Red Sox organization’s No. 5 prospect by MassLive.
Cora remarked, “He had a good offseason.” “He spent the last month in Tampa working on his swing, body, and other things.” It all depends on our personal attitudes toward it. His defensive prowess is well known. It transforms the game. As you can see, teams have worked to strengthen their defense and increase their number of at-bats over the years. Towards the end, we’ll examine that as a group and make a decision. We’ll go that route if we’re at ease with the young player manning center field and know that he’s likely to have offensive issues at the major league level. We will take further action if we determine that he needs to remain in the minors in order to continue improving.
Once more, we’ll proceed and during spring training, someone will be chosen for the position,” Cora stated.
Rafaela was described as “Freaky talented at two skilled positions with the legs and speed to impact the game at the top of the order” by an MLB scout not so long ago.
A constant menace on the bases. With Mookie Betts’ athletic profile, this shortstop defense is a strong candidate for the Gold Glove, with stolen base instincts and above-average potential.
Driven kid. Since he has been moving quickly, Sox might slack down his ETA. Patience and discipline in pitch selection and strike zone are most needed. aggressive early-count strategy to use walks to take advantage of his speed and strikeouts to adjust his OBP. All-Star potential.
Floor: Consistent, one-hole bat with two holes that will produce once he realizes who he is at the plate.
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