Ceddanne Rafaela

Well, now it's official. Everything had been tracking towards Campbell opening the season as Boston's second baseman, and has he has gotten hot at the plate over the last week, that seemed like a foregone conclusion. The 22-year-old shot through the minor leagues last year and is one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Boston's full lineup is: Jarren Duran LF, Rafael Devers DH, Alex Bregman 3B, Triston Casas 1B, Trevor Story SS, Kristian Campbell 2B, Wilyer Abreu RF, Connor Wong C, Ceddanne Rafaela CF.

We don't think Rafaela is getting enough love as an everyday player in Boston this season. He was a consensus top-40 prospect last season who hit 15 home runs and stole 19 bases in his debut season. He spent this offseason working on his plate discipline and then hit .316/.409/.526 in 44 plate appearances this spring with two home runs, six walks, and just four strikeouts. He could be in for a breakout season.

In a game that was a scoreless pitcher's duel into the home half of the eighth inning, the Red Sox finally broke through as Kristian Campbell was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a single, setting the stage for Rafaela to bring him home. The versatile 24-year-old has had another strong spring for the Red Sox, hitting .306 (11-for-36) with two homers, 10 RBI and a pair of stolen bases.

That the Red Sox have turned Rafael Devers into DH and declared that Masataka Yoshida is again an outfielder has put some more pressure on Rafaela to produce. Still, the Red Sox would surely love to see Rafaela hit well enough to justify keeping their outstanding defensive outfield intact, with Jarren Duran in left, Rafaela in center and Wilyer Abreu in right. Rafaela has put together a pretty incredible spring, too, hitting .333/.436/.576. That's hardly the best line in the Grapefruit League, but it's stunning to see him with a 3/6 K/BB in 39 plate appearances. He had a 151/15 K/BB in 571 plate appearances as a rookie last season.

The Red Sox have to love Rafaela's 3/4 K/BB in 32 plate appearances. Sure, there are quite a few at-bats against minor leaguers mixed in there, but this is a guy who struck out 10 times for every time he walked as a rookie (151/15). Getting that down to something like 5:1 would be huge for him.