Red Sox Ceddanne Rafaela Ranks Among Games Best Utility Players

The Boston Red Sox (61-53) have dealt with numerous injuries to their offensive core this season, but have been able to remain atop the MLB mountain in offensive production. Having a solid utility player can go a long way toward helping fill holes, and Red Sox rookie Ceddanne Rafaela has performed that role very well.

In a recent article from Bleacher Report , Joel Reuter ranked the top 10 players at each position right now. For utility players, Rafaela ranks eighth.

Here is what Reuter had to say about the rookie:

"Rookie Ceddanne Rafaela has work to do refining his approach at the plate, as he has walked just 12 times in 411 plate appearances, but he has been an extremely valuable piece of the puzzle for the Red Sox while splitting his time between shortstop and center field."

For the season, Rafaela is batting .259/.292/.416 with 13 home runs, 58 RBI, 16 steals and a 93 OPS+. He has manned four positions for the Red Sox this season, second base, shortstop, third base, and center field, as well as designated hitting.

If you only look at Rafaela's surface defensive metrics, you would not get the whole picture. As a whole, Rafaela has -6 Outs Above Average for the season, but -9 comes from his time at shortstop. He has zero Outs Above Average at second and third base, and three Outs Above Average in center field.

Rafaela has played a big role in keeping the Red Sox in the playoff hunt by filling in for the players who have found themselves on the injury report. Without his versatility and production, the Red Sox might not be deep in the hunt for October baseball.