{"id":77370,"date":"2024-06-20T21:33:26","date_gmt":"2024-06-21T01:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=77370"},"modified":"2024-06-20T22:18:38","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T02:18:38","slug":"ceddanne-rafaela-recent-hot-stretch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/20\/ceddanne-rafaela-recent-hot-stretch\/","title":{"rendered":"Rookie Leading Red Sox Recent Hot Stretch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Entering June, the Boston Red Sox sat at 29-29. It was a familiar position for the franchise, who have hit the .500 mark 18 times this season. It seemed farfetched that Boston could string together a consistent and elongated run of wins. But once the middle of the month arrived, the Red Sox were ready to push for it. Thankfully for the club, so was its youngest player. Boston has won eight of its last nine contests entering Friday\u2019s matchup with the Cincinnati Reds. And rookie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rafaece01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ceddanne Rafaela<\/a> is leading the Red Sox\u2019s recent hot streak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Ceddanne Rafaela Leading Red Sox Recent Hot Stretch<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With how Rafaela has performed in the last week, it\u2019s hard to believe he was batting .210 with a sub-.600 OPS eight days ago. The 23-year-old is in the midst of the hottest stretch of his professional career. Rafaela is on a seven-game hitting streak, including six multi-hit contests. He\u2019s raised his average significantly and is producing at a dominant level for someone hitting the bottom of the lineup. During Rafaela\u2019s streak, he\u2019s batting an astonishing .615 with 16 hits, four RBI, two walks, and a home run. Boston won all but one of those contests.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">CEDDANNE RAFAELA IS THE HOTTEST MAN ALIVE! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HZojHwQ6bd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HZojHwQ6bd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tyler Milliken \u26be\ufe0f (@tylermilliken_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tylermilliken_\/status\/1803241035390218511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hot stretch began against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 12. In an 8-6 victory, Rafaela had two hits and scored a run. He had another two-knock day in a series-clinching win over Philadelphia. A change of opponent didn\u2019t matter much to Rafaela, who continued raking against the AL-leading New York Yankees. After securing one hit in the first contest of a three-game set, the Curacao native went 6-8 with two three-hit matchups against the Bronx Bombers. As the nine hitter, Rafaela was getting on in a big way for the top of the lineup. He exited the home series against New York with a .238 batting average for the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bat stayed hot when the Red Sox traveled across the border to face the Toronto Blue Jays. Rafaela hit his first home run of the month on June 17 with a towering shot. He ended the day with two hits and a walk. The next day, he recorded three knocks and four total bases. Despite receiving an off-day in the final game of the series, where the Sox swept the Jays, Rafaela\u2019s damage was felt. He touched nine bases in two games and raised his season average to .251.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">CEDDANNE RAFAELA SECOND DECK MY GOODNESS <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mN1zYsIQOR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/mN1zYsIQOR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jared_Carrabis\/status\/1802852302132560170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rafaela\u2019s recent games are also making Boston history. He became the first Red Sox player batting ninth in the lineup to ever reach base three or more times in four straight games. Rafaela can extend that record to five when Boston plays Cincinnati on Friday night.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ceddanne Rafaela is the first player in Red Sox history to reach base 3+ times in 4 consecutive games, all while batting 9th in the lineup.<\/p>\n<p>3-for-4<br \/>\n3-for-4<br \/>\n2-for-3, BB<br \/>\n3-for-4<\/p>\n<p>Rafaela leads MLB rookies in RBI (41), runs scored (36), and total bases (104).<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SoxNotes\/status\/1803427644777619798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><b>Zooming Out On Rafaela\u2019s 2024 Season<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the recent hot stretch, it wasn\u2019t always a positive year for Rafaela. The 23-year-old struggled out of the gate. Splitting time between shortstop and center field, Rafaela was batting just .186 at the end of April. It seemed like he had a tough time fully adjusting to MLB pitching. Rafaela\u2019s average stayed below .200 until May 5. His low OPS of .515 painted an even grimmer picture. But his last 30 games have revived his season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over Rafaela\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/mlb\/ask\/ceddanne-rafaela-in-his-last-30-games\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">last 30 appearances<\/a>, he\u2019s batting a strong .309 with a near-.800 OPS. It\u2019s been a massive blessing for Boston\u2019s lineup, with the right-handed hitter scoring 18 runs from the nine-hole during that stretch. Rafaela recorded almost half of his hits over that time period in his last seven games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">How hot has Ceddanne Rafaela been in the month of June? \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n<p>16 Games &#8211; 64 PA<br \/>\n.377\/.406\/.475\/.882<br \/>\n1 HR, 3 2B<br \/>\n31.3% K%<br \/>\n4.7% BB%<br \/>\n3\/5 SB<br \/>\n148 wRC+<\/p>\n<p>Over the last week: .615\/.643\/.846\/1.489 with a 21.4 K% and 7.1% BB%. 321 wRC+. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0mZgBmp3ee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/0mZgBmp3ee<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tyler Milliken \u26be\ufe0f (@tylermilliken_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tylermilliken_\/status\/1803454903655768190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although he\u2019s had some shaky batting averages over the season, Rafaela&#8217;s RBI production is the one constant. In 73 games, he has driven in 41 runs. Over his 28 contests in 2023, he had just five RBI. It\u2019s been an obvious stark difference in 2024, so much so that he is ahead of major superstars in the category. Rafaela currently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statmuse.com\/mlb\/ask\/most-rbis-in-a-rookie-season-2024\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">leads all rookies in runs batted in<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and ranks 32nd overall. He ranks above <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bettsmo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mookie Betts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/semiema01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Semien<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alvaryo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yordan Alvarez<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/o\/olsonma02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt Olson<\/a>. That\u2019s pretty impressive for an inexperienced 23-year-old.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He&#8217;s also been strong defensively as of late. Since the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/14\/david-hamilton-dominant-hot-streak\/\" target=\"_self\">emergence<\/a> of shortstop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hamilda03.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Hamilton<\/a>, Rafaela has spent more time roaming the outfield for Boston. He does so with elegance, smartness, and skill. Although it\u2019s nearly impossible to match his hitting production on defense, Rafaela is trying his hardest. The rookie is becoming an all-around playmaker in 2024. It just had to take some time for Rafaela to fully break out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ceddanne Rafaela is special. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/p6igu6x03g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/p6igu6x03g<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Red Sox (@RedSox) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RedSox\/status\/1802864262416630216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: <em>John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Entering June, the Boston Red Sox sat at 29-29. It was a familiar position for the franchise, who have hit the .500 mark 18 times this season. It seemed farfetched that Boston could string together a consistent and elongated run of wins. But once the middle of the month arrived, the Red Sox were ready [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5152,"featured_media":77379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[28425,6315,2720,5990,250,2725],"class_list":["post-77370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redsox","tag-ceddanne-rafaela","tag-david-hamilton","tag-marcus-semien","tag-matt-olson","tag-mookie-betts","tag-yordan-alvarez"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}