Fellow Gold Glove Winner Gushes Over Red Sox’s Ceddanne Rafaela

Ceddanne Rafaela has earned respect from one of MLB’s other premier defenders.

Rafaela won his first Gold Glove Award earlier this month, joining Wilyer Abreu as the third pair of Boston Red Sox outfielders to win the award in the same year. Pete-Crow Armstrong received the National League honor at Rafaela’s position.

Neither center fielder claimed the Platinum Glove Award, which went to Bobby Witt Jr. in the AL and Fernando Tatis Jr. in the NL. Per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, Crow-Armstrong would have picked Rafaela as the best fielder regardless of position.

“The two dudes that won it are pretty damn good,” Crow-Armstrong said. “If it wasn’t league-based, I would have given it to Ceddanne. I love watching him play center field. I think he’s the best in the game.”

The Chicago Cubs’ breakout star cited Rafaela’s versatility. After playing shortstop in 2024, he went to center for most of the 2025 season before shifting to second base down the stretch.

“I’ve got a lot of admiration for someone that can go play shortstop and play center field and play second base and do it all on one weekend,” Crow-Armstrong said. “We played them and I saw him in the infield and outfield. If I’m gonna geek out over anybody and be like, ‘I just really like watching him play,’ it’s him.”

The 23-year-old Crow-Armstrong hopes that he and the 25-year-old Rafaela can lock down their respective league’s Gold Glove Awards in center for the foreseeable future.

“I told him I’d like to see him year after year in New York for that Gold Glove event,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Andruw Jones told us the same thing. I’d like to get used to doing it with him. I just love the way he plays.”