Ceddanne Rafaela will have to wait until November 2 to see if he wins his first career Gold Glove award. On Thursday, though, he took home another piece of defensive hardware.

Rafaela was named the 2025 Fielding Bible Award winner in center field, according to an announcement by Sports Info Solutions. The awards, which are “voted on by a panel of experts who consider statistical analysis, the eye test, and any other factors that they wish to utilize,” are considered a stats-based alternative to the traditional Gold Glove awards (which give out awards for each league).

Rafaela is the first-ever Red Sox center fielder to win such an award in 20 years of them being handed out. Last year, Wilyer Abreu was a Fielding Bible winner in right field.

“Ceddanne Rafaela won his first Fielding Bible Award,“ read a release from SIS. ”He led all center fielders in 2025 with 20 Defensive Runs Saved.

“Rafaela’s 27 Good Fielding Plays were the most of any center fielder. Rafaela had the second-most Range Runs Saved of any center fielder and tied for the most Outfield Arm Runs Saved at the position. Rafaela was also versatile. He played 24 games at second base and had 1 Run Saved.

“Rafaela is the first Red Sox center fielder to win a Fielding Bible Award. Mookie Betts and Wilyer Abreu are the two Red Sox outfielders who previously won, both in right field, with Abreu most recently in 2024.”

Rafaela, one of the premier defenders in the league, finished second among all MLB outfielders in DRS with 20, trailing only Cleveland’s Steven Kwan. Despite moving to the infield for a stretch for the second straight year (Rafaela started 19 games at second base in 2025), the Curacao native was still a stabilizing force in center, logging 1,167 ⅓ innings over 141 games (129 starts). He’s looking to be a Gold Glover for the first time and will have to beat out Kansas City’s Kyle Isbel and Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez at his position.

The Gold Glove winners will be announced a week from Sunday (November 2) during a special edition of ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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