Inside The Red Sox

Watch Red Sox Prospect Ceddanne Rafaela Blast Playoff-Clinching Grand Slam

The No. 4 prospect in the organization continues to impress.

Scott Neville

Watch Red Sox Prospect Ceddanne Rafaela Blast Playoff-Clinching Grand Slam
Watch Red Sox Prospect Ceddanne Rafaela Blast Playoff-Clinching Grand Slam /
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The Portland Sea Dogs clinched a playoff berth in dramatic fashion, thanks in part to the Boston Red Sox's fastest-rising prospect.

Versatile budding star Ceddanne Rafaela secured a win for the Sea Dogs on Wednesday night when he blasted a grand slam into orbit, stretching an 8-4 lead over the Somerset Patriots into an insurmountable 12-4 lead in the seventh inning.

The Sea Dogs entered the game needing to win just one of their last five games to clinch the playoffs, but Rafaela and company were not going to let it come down to the wire. 

Rafaela is approaching the "five-tool player" tag as he's put together a breakout season for the ages, and in an all-important game was slated as the No. 3 hitter in the lineup despite his 5-foot-8, 152-pound frame. 

He finished the night going 2-for-6 with a home run, single, four RBIs, two runs and two strikeouts.

His season tallies are remarkable and he has four more games left to pad his stats.

Rafaela is hitting .303 with 32 doubles, 10 triples, 21 home runs, 86 RBIs, 27 steals (on 34 attempts) and a .895 OPS in 113 games between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland. 

The 21-year-old is also a premier defender at both center field and shortstop. He's so strong defensively that many in the industry believe he could've won a Gold Glove at the Major League Baseball level this season had he made his debut this season. 

It's been a long time since a Red Sox prospect has ascended as fast as Rafaela, with the last candidate likely being Mookie Betts. Red Sox fans will be hoping for more of the same.

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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