Ceddanne Rafaela Called up to the Red Sox

[soxhop411]

View: https://twitter.com/chadjennings22/status/1696240757374415056

Ceddanne Rafaela and David Hamilton are each being recalled by the Red Sox. Pablo Reyes is going on the IL and Wilyer Abreu on the paternity list. No lineup yet.

 

[Rasputin]

Let's run crazy on these motherfuckers shall we?

 

[DadOfFenway]

OH WOW. Was on fence about watching tonight... now let's go!

 

[Yankeessuck4ever]

Definitely watching tonight!!!

 

[E5 Yaz]

OH WOW. Was on fence about watching tonight... now let's go!

Definitely watching tonight!!!

He's not in the starting lineup

 

[joe dokes]

Abreu's is in the majors for a week and he's already having kids?! That's chutzpah.

(Good for them that it's happening while he's on the MLB roster.)

 

[trekfan55]

Was Reyes not in the game yesterday? I thought he was doing ok.

 

[Ale Xander]

Cross-posting

Woohoo!
Free CR3

Story has 3+ hours to scratch himself

McGuire has 3+ hours to give up the 3 and *** himself

 

[Ale Xander]

Abreu's is in the majors for a week and he's already having kids?! That's chutzpah.

(Good for them that it's happening while he's on the MLB roster.)

Diapers are expensive

 

[Ale Xander]

OH WOW. Was on fence about watching tonight... now let's go!

Neither are in the lineup

 

[brandonchristensen]

Oh hell yah. Love little Raffy.
Let's fuckin' go!

 

[E5 Yaz]

Neither are in the lineup

No kidding?

 

[moondog80]

It would be fun to see him play a lot, but seems like he's not being called up to play as much as they need someone to fill the slot with both Abreu and Duran out, and with the team still marginally in the WC race, it's worth sacrificing a week of AB in Worcester to put the best 26 guys out there.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Pablo made a nice play at second and winced a little. I guess maybe it was a little worse than we thought.

 

[Yaz4Ever]

The Rafaela Experience begins tonight - hope he sees some playing time

 

[shaggydog2000]

His BB% is up to 8.3% this month, and that is pretty much average at the MLB level. So maybe he might get to play and stick if he hits well.

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

Apologies for being ignorant of how this stuff works, but does this mean he will hit free agency a year sooner than he otherwise would?

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Apologies for being ignorant of how this stuff works, but does this mean he will hit free agency a year sooner than he otherwise would?

No.

Free agency is determined by service time. Specifically, you can't become a free agent until you have six full years of service time.

Service time is measured in days, there are 186 possible days to earn each year, and you have to get to 172 to complete one year of service. At best, Rafaela is only going to earn about 40 days this year. He's right now on pace for free agency after 2029. The only way his free agency could be pushed off by another year is if he goes to the minors next year (or the year after) for at least two weeks plus whatever service time he earns this year.

 

[moondog80]

Apologies for being ignorant of how this stuff works, but does this mean he will hit free agency a year sooner than he otherwise would?

No. A player earns his first year of service time upon accruing 172 days of service time. Then the clock starts.

Assuming this is temporary until Abreu comes back in a few days, if Rafaella spends a month in AAA next year before getting called up for good, his first year as far as FA goes might not happen until 2025.

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/service-time

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

Thanks guys!

 

[LogansDad]

I hope they plan on getting him into the lineup, he isn't going to finish his development by sitting and watching Duvall play CF.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

I hope they plan on getting him into the lineup, he isn't going to finish his development by sitting and watching Duvall play CF.

If he's just up to cover for Abreu being on the paternity list, he may not be around long enough for sitting around to be that detrimental.

That said, I imagine they aren't keen to debut him against the Astros. Maybe if he's still around Wednesday, he could start against the lefty.

 

[JM3]

View: https://twitter.com/jcmccaffrey/status/1696272201719177572

 

[E5 Yaz]

If he's just up to cover for Abreu being on the paternity list, he may not be around long enough for sitting around to be that detrimental.

With roster expansion, he really doesn't have to be sent back, right?

 

[JM3]

View: https://twitter.com/PeteAbe/status/1696264848915701790

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

On their latest pod, the SoxProspects guys said Rafaela isn’t all that fast, slightly above average speed that plays slower on the basepaths due to poor baserunning instincts…and faster in the field due to exceptional fielding instincts.

Overall (and I could be misreading here), they were skeptical that Rafaela’s chase rate really can be addressed and are concerned it could be a rough transition to MLB pitchers who just won’t give him anything to hit.

 

[JM3]

On their latest pod, the SoxProspects guys said Rafaela isn’t all that fast, slightly above average speed that plays slower on the basepaths due to poor baserunning instincts…and faster in the field due to exceptional fielding instincts.

Overall (and I could be misreading here), they were skeptical that Rafaela’s chase rate really can be addressed and are concerned it could be a rough transition to MLB pitchers who just won’t give him anything to hit.

Yeah, they've definitely had some skepticism & don't feel like the strong #s at Worcester are indicative of any sort of change in approach or increased likelihood of professional success.

View: https://twitter.com/IanCundall/status/1696258969075933469


& this was from RedSoxStats, who obviously isn't affiliated with SoxProspects, but has some opinions as well.

View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1696255134857048453

 

[soxhop411]

View: https://twitter.com/gfstarr1/status/1696277286922678629

Ceddanne Rafaela says he was playing PlayStation and missed a few phone calls from WooSox manager Chad Tracy, who was trying to reach him to let him know he was going to the Majors.

Wonder if he was playing MLB the Show...

 

[Fishercat]

Tovar was the comparison I zoned in on when I looked deeper into his stat lines recently. The Bb/K was bad in there minors and that almost always gets worse in the bigs. But you gotta love the skills he does have (power, game speed, fielding) and hope he can give us flashes now and develop into real value.

 

[Max Power]

With roster expansion, he really doesn't have to be sent back, right?

You only get 2 more in September. I'm guessing one will be a pitcher and one an infielder since they're banged up there.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

You only get 2 more in September. I'm guessing one will be a pitcher and one an infielder since they're banged up there.

Don’t they usually want a third catcher available?

 

[DeadlySplitter]

Surprised he's starting tomorrow, I was thinking Wednesday against a lefty.

 

[JM3]

You only get 2 more in September. I'm guessing one will be a pitcher and one an infielder since they're banged up there.

The only other IF on the 40 are Hamilton, who is already there as the Reyes replacement, Dalbec & Valdez. If they still need to manage Story's SS innings, Rafaela is probably actually their best option on the 40. They could of course re-add Chang & DFA someone like Justin Garza, but I guess we'll just see how Rafaela looks in the short-term.

 

[RoDaddy]

Great news! C note, as we call him in the Minor League thread, does it all and has swag - including a few Willie Mays-style catches in center. The only downside to his development has been the system scrapping their attempts to make him more patient as a hitter half way through this year when he was struggling. His hitting took off after that but I hope his aggressiveness and high chase rate don't bite him in the bigs. Anyway, he looks and bats so much like Mookie that we can always dream he's Mookie lite if not more

 

[richgedman'sghost]

I hope they plan on getting him into the lineup, he isn't going to finish his development by sitting and watching Duvall play CF.

Duvall is red hot. He has homered again tonight. I think you continue to play the hot hand. CR will probably only be around for 3 or 4 days at most so his development won't be hurt. I strongly disagree with your theory.

 

[Ale Xander]

Already a true Red Sock, getting doubled up at first on a pop-up on his first time running the bases.

Batting 1.000 though

 

[RobertS975]

Don’t they usually want a third catcher available?

Back when the Sox knew they were going to be in the playoffs, they usually had a third catcher on the roster on Aug 31 to make that player eligible for the post season. If one of the two catchers became injured in September, there was still an extra catcher to make the playoff eligible roster.

 

[Red(s)HawksFan]

Back when the Sox knew they were going to be in the playoffs, they usually had a third catcher on the roster on Aug 31 to make that player eligible for the post season. If one of the two catchers became injured in September, there was still an extra catcher to make the playoff eligible roster.

The rule has never been that a player has to be on the roster by 8/31 to be playoff-eligible. They just have to be in the organization somewhere before 8/31. Being on the 40-man is obviously the easiest way to be playoff-eligible, but if there are players on the IL at the end of the year, they can be replaced by anyone who's in the organization whether they've been on the 40-man or not. So in the case of the 2023 team, if they need a catcher other than Wong or McGuire for the post-season, they can bring up anyone currently in the organization. So it could be Ronaldo Hernandez or Nathan Hickey or even Kyle Teel if they want.

 

[E5 Yaz]

@ChrisCotillo
Red Sox sent down David Hamilton and activated Wilyer Abreu from the paternity list. So Rafaela stays.

 

[simplicio]

Good. I do not want David Hamilton, defender.

 

[joe dokes]

Yeah, they've definitely had some skepticism & don't feel like the strong #s at Worcester are indicative of any sort of change in approach or increased likelihood of professional success.

View: https://twitter.com/IanCundall/status/1696258969075933469


& this was from RedSoxStats, who obviously isn't affiliated with SoxProspects, but has some opinions as well.

View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1696255134857048453

There's also the whole "AAA offense has been stratospheric this season" issue.

 

[sezwho]

Im guessing there’s not much to see, but curious what others think about Ceddannes usage since the callup. Is this pretty standard given the way these things are managed, ie the context of WCrace, needing to get a pending FA like Duvall his ABs (which he is dutifully CRUSHING anyway), etc?

He’s had one start and 7ABs, which certainly isn’t nothing, but I was hoping to see him get more of Durans innings.

 

[simplicio]

I don't see anything abnormal about his usage. They were clearly trying to field their best/most veteran lineup as of last night; we'll see if that embarrassing, crushing defeat changes their priorities. With Duvall mashing so hard it's not easy to find a spot in the outfield to play the kids.

 

[Ale Xander]

I don't see anything abnormal about his usage. They were clearly trying to field their best/most veteran lineup as of last night; we'll see if that embarrassing, crushing defeat changes their priorities. With Duvall mashing so hard it's not easy to find a spot in the outfield to play the kids.

Play him at SS and Story at 2B

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Play him at SS and Story at 2B

Can’t imagine they will do that. They could play Rafaela at 2b, he hasn’t played there all that much lately though. If the plan is Story at SS going forward, you have to keep him there.

 

[LoLsapien]

Seems like a guy who could handle a super sub type role, even at positions he's not super familiar with. Try him at 3rd and give Devers DH duty when Turner needs a break. Move Verdugo to left when Yoshida needs a break and play C-note in right. Cycle him into the 2B rotation.

There should be ways to work him into the lineup to see MLB pitching, especially given that we have guys that are beat-up (Turner) and exhausted (Yoshida) and the playoffs are out of reach. Let him know it's ok if he's making mistakes in the field. This is a great time to see if he's remotely prepared for MLB and give him some things to focus on during the off-season.

 

[YTF]

I suspect that in the coming week they will find ways to work him into the lineup a little more. It's hard to sit Duvall ATM and until the team is ready to accept that the WC is out of reach I think you'll see Rafaela rotating between SS and the OF (maybe 2nd?) and the DH spot being used to give guys partial days off while others get a full day off.