Ceddanne Rafaela Impresses Red Sox Pitcher With ‘Crazy’ Defense

Red Sox rookie Ceddanne Rafaela propelled Boston to a 4-1 victory and series win over the Houston Astros with two RBI doubles in the contest.

But it wasn’t Rafaela’s performance at the plate that impressed Red Sox pitcher Cooper Criswell — it was his defense.

“He’s a heck of an athlete, man,” Criswell told reporters, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “It’s almost like you expect something crazy from him every night defensively. I would say he’s one day going to win a Gold Glove out there either in center or even at short.”

Rafaela started his 59th game at shortstop this season — five of his last six games have been at the middle infield spot — and fielded seven grounders for outs in the Red Sox win. He’s turned 29 double plays in 534 1/3 innings at short with nine errors for a .962 fielding percentage. The rookie has also seen action in center field in 61 games for Boston.

“He’s looking better and better,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Boston’s win, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s going to play a lot of short the rest of the way. We know how good he can be at short. We know how great he is in center field. But the moving around, it takes away from good jumps and being engaged. … He’s been playing short a lot, and you can see it now.”

Along with his highlight-reel catches, Rafaela is batting .264 with 13 home runs and 61 RBIs to go along with 17 stolen bases.