Ceddanne Rafaela’s Near-Impossible Catch Might Be Best Of 2025

Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela is the sort of outfielder who makes the average play look easy, and the difficult plays look average. As he reminded everyone Monday night, he can also make the nearly impossible look … possible.

Rafaela made what might be the catch of the 2025 season so far when he went sprinting into the gap to make a sliding catch before crashing into the wall on the first pitch of Boston’s eventual series-opening loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The level of difficulty for the catch was, figuratively speaking, off the charts. According to the numbers, it was also damn close to being literally off the charts. According to MLB’s Statcast data, Rafaela’s catch was a play with just 5% catch probability.

Additionally, Rafaela needed to cover 102 feet to make the grab, which honestly feels low. While he started slightly shaded to the right, Rafaela still had to cover a ton of ground to make the grab. Here’s another insane figure from Statcast: According to them, Rafaela hit a sprint speed, presumably his top speed, of 29.9 feet per second. That’s basically like running a 4.1-second 40-yard dash time.

It’s all made even more impressive, as some pointed out, because of the conditions. The catch came on the very first pitch of the entire game on a dreary, wet and cold April night.

“When I saw that play, I was like ‘He was ready to play,'” Alex Cora told reporters after the game. “That’s why people need to show up to the park for first pitch, because if you don’t, you could miss something like that. Impressive.”

Rafaela remains one of the more intriguing players on the Red Sox roster through the first two weeks of the season. Top prospect Roman Anthony came out of the gates hitting everything hard at Triple-A Worcester. Given Wilyer Abreu has looked like the second coming of Willie Mays, and Jarren Duran’s reputation as an All-Star contributor, Rafaela looked like the potential odd man out if and when Anthony forced the club’s hand. Rafaela’s offense has been lacking; he’s hitting .188 without an extra-base hit (he does have five hits and four walks in his last five games, though).

His calling card, of course, is the defense, and while Anthony’s defense shouldn’t be completely discounted, he obviously isn’t nearly the player on the grass that Rafaela is. Rafaela has been sensational defensively to start the 2025 season, too, before even making the highlight-reel grab Monday night.

He’s just one of five outfielders who have contributed at least two outs above average this season, and only Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has more.