Rafaela is absent from the lineup for Thursday's contest in Tampa Bay, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
Rafaela is getting a breather after going 1-for-16 with seven strikeouts across his last five games. Nick Sogard will cover second base and bat ninth for the Red Sox.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Out of Saturday's lineup
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Rafaela isn't in the Red Sox's lineup for Saturday's game against the Yankees, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
Rafaela has been held hitless in eight at-bats through the first two games of the series, and he'll now get a chance to regroup as he sits Saturday. Enmanuel Valdez will start at second base and bat ninth.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Plays second base
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Rafaela started at second base and went 1-for-4 with an RBI in Wednesday's 5-3 extra-inning win over the Orioles.
Rafaela made his second start at second base (fourth appearance overall) and first since shortstop Trevor Story was reinstated from the 60-day injured list. At the time of Story's return last week, the speculation was the Rafaela would move to second base, but that didn't occur until Wednesday's game.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Knocks in four in win
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Rafaela started in center field and went 2-for-4 with a double, four RBI and a run scored in Monday's 12-3 win over the Orioles.
Rafaela gave Boston separation late in the game with a two-run single in the sixth inning and a two-run double in the eighth. It was assumed he'd move to second base with the return of shortstop Trevor Story from the 60-day injured list, but Rafaela has played only center field since, while Romy Gonzalez and Enmanuel Valdez handled second. Rafaela could eventually shift back to the infield, and it would seem to make sense as the Red Sox have a several outfield/DH bats that would be more dangerous in the lineup than the Gonzalez/Valdez duo.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Sitting Sunday
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Rafaela is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
Rafaela will begin Sunday's contest in the dugout after going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Saturday's 7-5 win over the White Sox. Enmanuel Valdez will start at second base and bat ninth against White Sox right-hander Chris Flexen.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Starts in center field
Rotowire
Rafaela started in center field and went 0-for-4 in Saturday's 7-5 win over the White Sox.
The return of shortstop Trevor Story was initially expected to move Rafaela to second base, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora put him in the outfield. Rafaela is fighting it right now and is 5-for-40 (.125) over his last 12 games.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Provides winning knock
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Rafaela went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Friday's 7-5 extra-inning win over the Tigers.
Boston's bullpen blew another late-game lead, but the Red Sox were rescued by Rafaela, who launched a two-run homer in the 10th inning. The home run was the 14th for Rafaela after he went 24 games without a long ball.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Delivers run in loss
Rotowire
Rafaela went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Orioles.
Rafaela delivered Boston's first run with an eighth-inning single. The Red Sox had been 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position at that point. Rafaela is batting .321 (34-of-106) in 28 games since the All-Star break but has just two extra-base hits and seven RBI over that same stretch.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Pops homer in win
Rotowire
Rafaela went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's 11-6 win over Texas.
Rafaela stretched Boston's lead to 9-3 with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. It was his 13th home run, and he's chipped in 57 RBI as the team's nine-hole hitter. Rafaela has hit safely in 12 of 13 games coming out of the All-Star break, going 17-for-52 (.327).
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Momentum-shifting homer
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Rafaela went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's 9-7 win over the Yankees.
In a back-and-forth affair, Rafaela launched a momentum-shifting, two-run homer in the seventh inning before Boston plated three more in the next frame. The home run re-energized Fenway Park, which had just seen Aaron Judge hit a missile, measuring 470 feet off the back wall in center field. It was the 12th home run of the season for Rafaela, who is 9-for-29 (.310) with a home run, three RBI, three steals and five runs in seven games since returning from the All-Star break.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Finishes off Yankees
Rotowire
Rafaela went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Friday's 5-3 extra-inning win over the Yankees.
Rafaela put the final touch on the Yankees, as the Red Sox hit two-run home runs in the ninth and 10th innings to steal a win at Yankee Stadium. It was the 10th homer for Rafaela, whose slow start to the season is in the past. The young outfielder/shortstop is batting .348/.375/.522 with five doubles, a triple, three home runs, 16 RBI and three steals over the last 24 games.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Hitting bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Rafaela is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.
Rafaela has followed a hot stretch to begin June with a slump, having picked up only one hit over his previous five contests. With Rafaela on the bench Wednesday, Jarren Duran will patrol center field and David Hamilton will start at shortstop.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Sizzling bat continues in win
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Rafaela went 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and an RBI in Tuesday's 4-3 win over Toronto.
Rafaela drove in the game-winning run with an eighth-inning single. The rookie's bat continues to sizzle; Rafaela has hit safely in seven consecutive games, including multiple hits in six of those contests. He's 16-for-26 (.615) with three doubles, a home run, two steals, four RBI and six runs scored during the streak.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Four hits, four RBI in win
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Rafaela went 4-for-6 with four RBI and one run scored in Thursday's 14-2 win over the White Sox.
Rafaela entered Thursday 0-for-10 across his last three games before enjoying a breakout performance. While all four of his hits were singles, three of them led to more runs on the board for the Red Sox. The 23-year-old is slashing a meager .215/.243/.374 through 62 contests, but he's batting .276 (16-for-58) over his last 16 games. Rafaela has added seven home runs, 37 RBI, 29 runs scored and eight stolen bases this season.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Goes yard twice in win
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Rafaela went 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI in Friday's 7-3 win over the Tigers.
Per Ian Browne of MLB.com, Rafaela has made some tweaks to his swing mechanics in an attempt to get going at the plate, and the adjustments seem to be paying off. The 23-year-old put together his first career multi-homer game by launching a three-run shot off Kenta Maeda in the fourth inning before tagging Joey Wentz for a two-run blast in the sixth that just cleared the Green Monster. Over the last 11 games, Rafaela is batting .289 (11-for-38) with three homers, two steals, nine runs and 10 RBI.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Not starting Thursday
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Rafaela isn't in Boston's lineup for Thursday's game against Detroit, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.
Rafaela went 0-for-4 during Wednesday's loss to Baltimore, putting an end to his four-game hit streak. He'll take a seat versus Jack Flaherty and the Tigers while Rob Refsnyder starts in the outfield, moving Connor Wong into the DH role and allowing Reese McGuire to start behind the plate.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Making adjustments
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The Red Sox advised Rafaela to hold his hands lower in his stance, Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe reports. He went 0-for-4 in Wednesday's loss to Baltimore and is batting .206 with a 25.7 strikeout percentage.
The goal of the hands adjustment is to cut down on all the movement needed to catch up to fastballs. "Be on time," Boston manager Alex Cora said. "We've been talking about it, showing him examples. It happens that we're here, too, [in Baltimore] and can use [the Orioles] as an example of how short they are to the ball and how they use their hands." Rafaela's been inconsistent overall but has hit better recently, going 9-for-33 (.273) over the last nine games while batting safely in seven of those contests.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Climbs above .200 again
Rotowire
Rafaela went 2-for-3 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 2-1 win over the Brewers.
Rafaela's eighth-inning double put him in position to score the winning run. He has multiple hits in two straight games and has gone 7-for-22 (.318) over the last six. That's pushed his batting average to .208, the third time he's climbed above the Mendoza Line this season. Rafaela is a bit of conundrum. He leads the Red Sox in RBI (28) and is fifth in extra-base hits (16), but he's not exactly a good hitter. Boston manager Alex Cora told Alex Speier of The Boston Globe that Rafaela has "big moves" in his swing as he tries to hit for power -- how he loads the swing, the leg kick and the swing itself. For long-term success, Cora believes Rafaela needs to shorten his swing.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Gets break Friday
Rotowire
Rafaela is not in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Cardinals.
Rafaela will get a break as Boston kicks off its series against the Cardinals. The second-year major leaguer opened the campaign as the Red Sox's primary center fielder but has mostly played shortstop over the past month. The lineup absence marks his first time on the bench since April 11.
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Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela: Swats fourth homer Tuesday
Rotowire
Rafaela went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 5-4 extra-innings win over the Rays.
It was a roller coaster night for the 23-year-old. Rafaela gave Boston a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning by taking Aaron Civale deep for his fourth long ball of the year, but his throwing error in the top of the 11th nearly gave Tampa Bay the win. The Red Sox were able to tie the game back up in the bottom of the frame, though, in part thanks to Rafaela's sacrifice bunt, before winning it in the 12th. Rafaela has collected a hit in 10 of 12 contests in May, batting .275 (11-for-40) on the month with two doubles and two homers, but his 1:11 BB:K is a warning sign that his numbers could swoon quickly as they did in April (.515 OPS in 26 games.)
