We went back and watched all of Rafaela’s toughest catches, using Statcast’s catch probability as a loose guideline, to find the Red Sox center fielder’s very best grabs of the year.
There were plenty to choose from — Rafaela made 17 catches with a catch probability of 50% or lower, and seven with a catch probability of 25% or lower.
Here are Rafaela’s top five catches of 2025.
1) April 7 vs. Blue Jays
Catch probability: 5%
Rafaela is one of the only outfielders who could make this play, where he took an extra-base hit away from Bo Bichette on a line drive to the right-center-field fence at Fenway Park with a sensational sliding catch.
Rafaela needed everything on this catch: a great jump, the elite speed and range to even get to the ball, and the instincts to navigate the wall. He had to cover 102 feet in 5.0 seconds to make the play, which he did thanks to a blazing fast 29.9 feet per second sprint speed and an incredible jump that was 10.7 feet better than average (that’s how much extra ground he covered in the right direction at the start of the play compared to a typical outfielder).
2) Sept. 21 vs. Rays
Catch probability: 5%
A 5% catch probability is as difficult as it gets, and Rafaela made more than one of those plays in 2025. This diving catch, to take away a hit from Tristan Gray, was less about range than when he robbed Bichette, and more about reaction.
Rafaela once again got an exceptional jump — 9.1 feet above average — to close quickly on Gray’s flare into right-center at Steinbrenner Field. He had just 3.6 seconds to cover the 62 feet he needed to, but that jump let him get there … and then he showed off his athleticism with this diving grab.
3) Sept. 16 vs. A’s
Catch probability: 10%
Here’s one that Rafaela made look a lot easier than it really was. He calmly tracked down this long fly ball off the bat of Darell Hernaiz at the base of the Green Monster in left-center.
But Rafaela had to cover 112 feet in just 5.6 seconds to make that play. He looked like a gazelle loping over from center field with a 29.0 ft/sec sprint speed. Compare what Rafaela had to do on the play to Jarren Duran in left field, who only would’ve had to cover 94 feet but gave way to his Gold Glove teammate.
4) May 28 vs. Brewers
Catch probability: 30%
The wall is no problem for Rafaela, whether it’s the Green Monster at Fenway or any other outfield fence. Here, he made a terrific jumping catch that sent him flying into the wall in right-center at Milwaukee’s American Family Field.
Rafaela covered 96 feet in 5.4 seconds to make this catch — not quite so far as the one at Fenway above, but still a tough catch to make on the run and going back into the fence. His jump was 9.2 feet better than average here, and he reached a 28.0 ft/sec sprint speed.
5) Sept. 6 vs. D-backs
Catch probability: 45%
This is one of the catches of the year in MLB, period. The catch probability doesn’t even do it justice.
Rafaela didn’t just have to cover 110 feet to the right-center-field fence at Chase Field … He had to go over the fence. At the end of his long sprint to the wall, Rafaela robbed Corbin Carroll of a home run.
The reason the catch probability is “only” 45% is because catch probability doesn’t account for the timing and athleticism required for a home run robbery at the end of the play — it is really a measurement of the outfielder’s range, based on the distance he needs to go, the time he has to get there, the direction he’s running and whether the wall comes into play. But going above and beyond the wall takes this play to another level that can’t be captured just by the numbers.
Honorable mention: The alley-oop home run robbery
This one was a combo effort between Rafaela and his Gold Glove teammate, Wilyer Abreu — and one of the more unique plays you’ll ever see, even though it was more about Rafaela being in the right place at the right time than about making a crazy difficult catch himself.
It was Abreu who went for the home run robbery on Kerry Carpenter’s deep drive in Detroit on May 14. But it was Rafaela who had the ball fall into his lap … well, glove … after it went in and out of Abreu’s glove. Rafaela did run 124 feet on the play just to be in position to complete the tipped catch.
