Speedy Rafaela faucets into energy with five-game HR streak

If there’s a answer to slowing down Ceddanne Rafaela, opposing pitchers have but to find it.

Following a torrid month of July through which the No. 2 Red Sox prospect sported a .337 common, Rafaela has homered in 5 consecutive video games to start the month of August.

He teed off for the seventeenth time this season throughout the highest two ranges of the Minors in Triple-A Worcester’s 6-3 win in 10 innings over host Syracuse on Saturday at NBT Bank Stadium. The 5 consecutive outings with a roundtripper are essentially the most in WooSox historical past.

“I’m very impressed with his performance here,” WooSox skipper Chad Tracy stated on Thursday. “Not just as of late, but really since he’s arrived from Portland. Even before the season started, we knew what he was capable of doing. He had some things to iron out in Double-A, which he did, and now he’s here and he’s been incredible for us ever since.”

In 5 video games this month, Rafaela has compiled 21 whole bases on six hits. Of the 5 homers he’s swatted out of the park, three had been pushed out to reverse discipline, highlighting the power of MLB’s No. 75 general prospect to spray the ball to all sections of the sector.

“Probably half of [his homers for us] have gone that manner,” Tracy said. “I do know the primary one he hit with us in Buffalo was to right-center. He’s hit two to right-center on this sequence. So he is obtained big-time juice to the alternative discipline.

“He’s also had a few in Worcester where he showed that if you make a mistake, he can pull it a really long way. His little body packs a huge punch. So again, you can’t say enough good things. He’s talented and he’s got power to all fields and he’s shown that since he’s been here.”

Though it’s encouraging to see the 5-foot-9, 195-pound outfielder thriving on the plate, Rafaela has been equally as spectacular as a defender and a baserunner, regularly utilizing his elite velocity to his benefit in these areas.

Projected to be the entire package deal on the massive league stage, Rafaela carries immense potential on each side of the diamond, however former Major Leaguer Tracy believes protection could present the 22-year-old’s largest worth.

“It’s hard to say,” he stated. “Honestly, he might go to the large leagues tomorrow and play an elite-level middle discipline. There’s little question in my thoughts on that. That’s how good he’s as a defensive participant; he glides round on the market.

“And if he continues on the track he’s on and really hones in on making good choices as a hitter, he’s going to be able to impact the game in a big way on the offensive side too. So the sky’s the limit for this kid.”

Speaking of Rafaela’s plate self-discipline, Tracy thinks the Curacao native’s enchancment in that space has been the most important variable to his breakout season.

“To be trustworthy, essentially the most spectacular half about him right here just lately is just not actually simply the house runs,” he said. “It’s the selections he is making within the batter’s field, which has been an enormous point of interest for him this 12 months. He is targeted on swinging at strikes, understanding what he is on the lookout for and what space of the strike zone he is on the lookout for.

“He’s been actually disciplined and is extra prepared to take a strike if he has to. So for me over the previous few days, what he is selecting to swing at and what he is selecting to not swing at is much more vital.