The Boston Red Sox are in the driver's seat for a playoff berth in 2024 and rookie Ceddanne Rafaela is a huge reason why.
Boston Red Sox center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (43) looks up at his solo home run during the eighth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 7
The Boston Red Sox enter play on Friday at 53-42 on the season. That record is good enough to have them in sole possession of third place in the American League Wild Card positioning. Furthermore, they are now just 4.5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East race.
One of the main reasons for the Sox' success this year has been speedy utility player Ceddanne Rafaela. Entering the season as one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Rafaela has played shortstop and the outfield for this roster, helping create roster flexibility and helping the team to stomach the loss of Trevor Story, who is out for the season.
An evolving offensive player, he's also one of just five rookies in baseball history to put up this set of numbers before the All-Star break.
Ceddanne Rafaela is only the 5th rookie ever with 10+ HR, 10+ steals, and 50+ RBI at the All-Star break:
Devon White (CAL, 1987)
Carlos Beltrán (KC, 1999)
Danny Espinosa (WSH, 2011)
Julio Rodríguez (SEA, 2022)
CEDDANNE RAFAELA (BOS, 2024)
For a solid portion of the season, Rafaela actually led the Red Sox in RBI. Rafael Devers has surpassed him as the team leader but Rafaela has been doing major damage from the bottom of the order.
He's hitting .246 this season with 11 homers, 11 steals and 52 RBI.
The Red Sox will kick off the second half on Friday night with a series at the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers. First pitch is set for 10:10 p.m. ET.
