The Red Sox' Ceddanne Rafaela and Cubs All-Star Pete Crow-Armstrong have similar skill sets — and mutual admiration

Boston Globe

2 days ago

'What he's doing is amazing, on both sides of the ball,' Rafaela said. 'He's one of the best defenders in the league and right now he's putting up some offensive numbers that are crazy. He's a really, really good player. A lot of talent. I love seeing his highlights. I like the way he goes about the game.'
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Crow-Armstrong said of Rafaela: 'Ballplayer. He goes back on the ball really well, he goes in on the ball really well, he goes to the gaps really well in a stadium where it's really hard to do that at. And he's hitting. He's pretty incredible.'
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As for Rafaela following the Crow-Armstrong track?
'There's so many parallels,' Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said.
Take it from Breslow, a former Cubs executive.
When Crow-Armstrong joined the Mets via the first round of the draft in 2020, then went to the Cubs in a 2021 trade, the clubs considered him a top prospect with a major league floor of an elite defender. If he managed to hit even a little bit, he would be a worthwhile lineup regular at the game's highest level. That's how good the glove was.
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In the fall of 2023, right after Crow-Armstrong had his first taste of the majors, Breslow joined the Red Sox. In Rafaela, who also debuted late that season, Breslow saw
Two weeks into Breslow's first season in charge,
The thought process was similar: Even if he is defense-only, he is worth it.
'Obviously, organizationally, we made a commitment to him very, very early on — thinking, hey, if what he is is a good defender in a super-utility role, that's pretty good,' Breslow said. 'Anything more than that is great.'
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This season, especially lately, Rafaela has been great. Crow-Armstrong has been even better.
For the National League Central-leading Cubs, Crow-Armstrong slashed .265/.302/.544 with 25 home runs and 71 RBIs entering Friday. Rafaela has a .271/.314/.483 slash line with 14 homers and 48 RBIs.
Their stats suggest similar hitters, albeit with Crow-Armstrong taking off at the outset of the season, about two months ahead of Rafaela.
They both swing at a similar percentage of pitches and make contact at similar rates. They don't draw many walks. Rafaela even has an edge in categories such as hard-hit rate (35 percent of batted balls vs. 31 percent) and exit velocity (91 miles per hour vs. 89).
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Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs had 25 home runs and 71 RBIs at the All-Star break.
Abbie Parr/Associated Press
'It's not crazy to say, because in a matter of a couple of months, the proof is there,' Red Sox assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson said of the Rafaela/Crow-Armstrong comparison. 'Hey, these guys are on equal playing fields. Now I would say, in both cases, it's a matter of who is going to sustain it?'
The difference has been that Crow-Armstrong is among the best at pulling the ball in the air. Rafaela is just figuring that out.
In a conversation in Milwaukee, the oft-cited turning point for Rafaela, manager Alex Cora showed him that his best outcomes happen when he hits fly balls to left field.
Since May 28, Rafaela has posted a .331/.362/.662 slash line with 12 homers and 29 RBIs. He has been up there with Aaron Judge, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Cal Raleigh as the best hitters in baseball.
But Rafaela's hot streak — his growth? — isn't as simple as deciding to follow the pull-it-in-the-air advice. That exchange came at a time when Rafaela committed to, and felt comfortable with, changes to his swing that had been in the works for months.
Ceddanne Rafaela listened to manager Alex Cora's advice to hit the ball in the air to left field.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
The problem was he moved too much when trying to attack a pitch. First his legs would go, he said, then his hands, then his head. He wasn't synched up. As Cora described it, referencing a late-2024 conversation in which he emphasized to Rafaela the importance of simplifying, 'The big moves don't work here.'
Streamlining Rafaela's actions at the plate opened up a world of possibility. Moving less meant starting his swing later, which meant being able to
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'We minimized some of his moves, which has been helpful for controlling the strike zone and making more contact,' Lawson said. 'Now he's got good ball flight and it ends up over the fence instead of top-spun to the bottom of the fence.'
Rafaela said: 'Moving less is helping me to be precise to the ball … I trusted it and it's happening.'
The key to buying in, Rafaela said, was encouragement from the team's veterans, particularly Alex Bregman.
'Why not trust them, if they have all the success that I want to have someday?' Rafaela said.
Those real, concerted changes are why the Red Sox feel this is sustainable to a degree. It's not necessarily some fluky hot streak.
'We're obviously thrilled with what Ceddanne has done to date, but I don't think anybody believes that this is it,' Breslow said. 'There's a calmness now, every time he steps in the box. The best way to explain it in my mind is, when he's playing the outfield, he looks unbelievably smooth and athletic. Now when he's in the box, he looks unbelievably smooth and athletic. Now there's continuity between both sides of the ball.'
Meanwhile, Crow-Armstrong's early-season change sounds familiar: Move less.
'Taking care of the physical aspect — like getting rid of the leg kick, grounding myself a little bit more — it's helped a whole lot this year,' he said.
Now, Rafaela's batted balls — and his numbers — are soaring. Just like Crow-Armstrong's.
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'He's talented. He's incredibly talented,' Lawson said of Rafaela. 'It's always just going to be about being able to repeat it.'
Rafaela said: 'I always ask myself for more. So yeah, I think when I continue to develop physically next year or in two years, three, yeah, I never underestimate myself. I see myself doing all those types of things.'
Alex Speier of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Tim Healey can be reached at