Red Sox (Bello) vs Orioles (Enns): 8/27/25, 6:35pm

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

Not sure that was luck.  First and foremost the Sox pitching was fantastic.  The first Orioles run was unearned because of Wong's passed ball and their second was on a fly ball Duran or Rafaela could easily have caught.  All three Sox runs were earned and came from  dingers.  

I do not in any way want to make light of the Sox errors, which infuriated me.  But I love that Bello battled through them.  

The Sox pitching has been excellent for quite some time, with a few exceptions. I think our SPing leads the AL in ERA since the ASB

[Jasonbay44]

4 hours ago, Nineintime said:

Is Raffys celebration a needle in the arm?  Steroids? Meth? Heroin? Have to admit it’s different. 

lol what? It’s the “ice in my veins” celebration. It’s very popular in basketball and baseball. Ronald Acuna also often does it. 

[Beaneater]

Cedanne's post-game interview was hilarious. He gets asked the standard question: "What was your approach in that situation?" The textbook answer is, "I was just trying to stay patient, maybe see something to drive..." Cedanne instead says, "I was going deep." 😛

[tawest]

9 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

I remember him well.  

Jackie Bradley Jr. played a pretty salty  CF between Benintendi and Betts back in the day.

[Hitch]

Page 4 was a fun page to read after the event. People are desperate for bad things to happen so they can say they're right on their particular obsession. 

[notin]

10 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I agree. No one expects The Ceddanne Rafaela.

You went Monty Python on us there…

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

19 minutes ago, notin said:

You went Monty Python on us there…

Always a good place to went.

[mvp 78]

5 hours ago, Beaneater said:

Cedanne's post-game interview was hilarious. He gets asked the standard question: "What was your approach in that situation?" The textbook answer is, "I was just trying to stay patient, maybe see something to drive..." Cedanne instead says, "I was going deep." 😛

Rafaela saying "I was trying to be patient" would be the biggest lie of all time.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

20 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Rafaela saying "I was trying to be patient" would be the biggest lie of all time.

"I was ready to spit on any pitch thrown outside the Chesapeake Bay."

[Bellhorn04]

59 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Rafaela saying "I was trying to be patient" would be the biggest lie of all time.

And Akin, a pretty good pitcher, served up a very fat pitch.  And Rafaela put a great swing on it.  This dude fascinates me as a hitter.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Rafaela's Science of Batting:

See ball, swing at ball. Swing hard.

Stay tuned for Rafaela's Science of Batting Part 2.

 

 

[moonslav59]

Part of me wants to say, "Don't change a thing, Ceddane!"

Don't tinker with something that is working well. I also think having a line-up with varying approaches is a good thing. It keeps opposing teams on their toes and disallows a cookie-cutter plan facing our line-up.

Rafaela is striking out less as the league is heading in the other direction. He's walking more, as the league is walking less. He's got just enough power to be about 4th on the team- maybe 20+ HRs, some year(s.) He runs the bases well and fields in an all out fashion. Cutting down on errors would help, but he's a huge asset on D. His ability to play 2B and SS in a pinch also adds value and flexibility for Cora.

The kid is a winner.

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Part of me wants to say, "Don't change a thing, Ceddane!"

Don't tinker with something that is working well. I also think having a line-up with varying approaches is a good thing. It keeps opposing teams on their toes and disallows a cookie-cutter plan facing our line-up.

Rafaela is striking out less as the league is heading in the other direction. He's walking more, as the league is walking less. He's got just enough power to be about 4th on the team- maybe 20+ HRs, some year(s.) He runs the bases well and fields in an all out fashion. Cutting down on errors would help, but he's a huge asset on D. His ability to play 2B and SS in a pinch also adds value and flexibility for Cora.

The kid is a winner.

Ceddanne’s bb rate is like half the league average.

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Ceddanne’s bb rate is like half the league average.

Indeed. I just pointed out that his is improving, while the leagues is declining.

I doubt he ever comes close to even the average, but the trends are going in opposite directions.

BB% '24>'25

League: 8.6>8.4%

Rafaela: 2.6>4.6% (he went from being over 1/3 to less than 1/2 the league mark)

OBP

League .320>.316 (It was .337 in 2006.)

Rafaela .274>.292 (46 below to 24 below)

Nobody knows if the trends will continue, but he has improved, significantly.

[moonslav59]

There are 237 MLB batters with 300+ PAs in 2025:

Rafaela has the 34th worst BB/K rate at .24.

In 2024, he was the worst at .10, which was historically awful.

While 34th out of 237 is really bad, he has gotten better.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Part of me wants to say, "Don't change a thing, Ceddane!"

The kid is a winner.

He's repeating game-winning feats. 

If I say the guy has a knack for big moments, someone else will surely say if a player swings a thousand times, the ball is bound to hit his bat once in awhile.

As for it happening in the late stages of the game, that must be randomness -- and not a cool cat beating a nervous reliever, who is often not as good as the starting pitcher.

Ceddanne may only think he's following a song by Billy Joel: "Swinging too hard can give a heart att- hack-Hack- HACK!"

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

He's repeating game-winning feats. 

If I say the guy has a knack for big moments, someone else will surely say if a player swings a thousand times, the ball is bound to hit his bat once in awhile.

As for it happening in the late stages of the game, that must be randomness -- and not a cool cat beating a nervous reliever, who is often not as good as the starting pitcher.

Ceddanne may only think he's following a song by Billy Joel: "Swinging too hard can give a heart att- hack-Hack- HACK!"

He has had many big hits for the Sox and has more RBIs in 2024 and 2025 than his BA and HRs indicate he should.

Repeatable skill? I think not, but he's done it, thus far.

[Bellhorn04]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

He has had many big hits for the Sox and has more RBIs in 2024 and 2025 than his BA and HRs indicate he should.

Repeatable skill? I think not, but he's done it, thus far.

I don't think fear is ever an issue with him. 

[moonslav59]

7 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think fear is ever an issue with him. 

I never thought of the word "fear" in this type of situation, but I suppose some batters get "afraid" to some extent, and maybe just not in high leverage situations.