This year hasn’t always been easy for Ceddanne Rafaela. The Red Sox outfielder has posted respectable numbers, but when he starts chasing pitches the at bats can get ugly.
Yet when Rafaela stepped to the plate with the winning run on in the bottom of the ninth and a playoff spot on the line, there’s nobody else the Red Sox would’ve rather had up.
“He’s like born for the moment,” said Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman. “He always seems to find a way to come up clutch.”
Rafaela came through yet again for the Red Sox, crushing a walk-off triple to deep center field to clinch the club’s first playoff berth in four years.
The ball sailed 396 feet to dead center field, and while Detroit Tigers outfielder Parker Meadows made a good effort, it just got over his outstretched glove and bounced off the wall.
But even before that, Rafaela’s teammates knew it was over the moment he made contact.
“The kid, there’s something about him,” manager Alex Cora said.
Though Rafaela is still only 25 years old, the outfielder is already assembling an impressive resume in late-game situations. Friday’s triple was Rafaela’s third walk-off of the season, following two previous walk-off homers, the most recent of which also came on a Friday night and broke the Tampa Bay Rays back on July 11.
“It seems like as the moment gets bigger and the lights get brighter, he slows his heartbeat and he’s at his best,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said. “We’ve seen that countless times so it’s hard to imagine wanting a different guy up there.”
Rafaela is nearing the end of a roller coaster regular season that has seen him establish himself as one of the game’s premier defensive players, but also one of its streakiest hitters. Overall he is batting .247 with 16 home runs and a .704 OPS, but along the way he’s enjoyed some incredible hot streaks interspersed among some brutal slumps.
The second half hasn’t been kind to Rafaela, but lately he’s shown signs that he could be getting hot again just in time for October. Since Sept. 19 he’s gone 11 for 26 (.423) with a 1.118 OPS, and he’s also now hit safely in six of his last seven games.
“I’m so proud of him, he’s worked his tail off and he’s come up clutch for us all year long,” Bregman said.
And if he comes to the plate in a big spot again come October, Rafaela said there’s no doubt in his mind he’ll be ready.
“I want to be in that moment,” Rafaela said.
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