Mazz: The similarity between Ceddanne Rafaela and Mookie Betts

One thing I hate? Comparisons between young players and bona fide superstars because they never seem to work. But I'm going to do it anyway. Sort of. Obviously, we're not the first to draw a comparison between Ceddanne Rafaela and Mookie Betts, who bear a striking resemblance when dressed a Red Sox uniform. Like Betts, Rafaela is listed at 5-foot-9. Like Betts, Rafaela is of slight build, though baseball-reference.com lists him at 165 pound compared with 180 for Betts. (We're betting they're closer than that.) Both are terrific athletes. The obviou difference is that Betts i a reigning (and soon-to-be?) two-time Most Valuable Player while Rafaela is a budding prospect who misplayed a line drive on Saturday that cot the Red ox a victory. But at the plate? Well, take a look: [caption id="attachment_274210" align="aligncenter" width="1844"] As these screen grabs illustrate, Mookie Betts (left) and Ceddanne Rafaela (right) are of similar size and have a similar etup in the batter's box. (Courtesy: NESN game broadcasts.)[/caption] Mookie Betts (left) and Ceddanne Rafaela (right) have strikingly similar builds and batting stances, as show in the adjacent screen grabs above. (Courtesy: NESN game broadcasts.)OK, so there are some slight differences. Betts is a little more upright where Rafaela is slightly more bent at the right knee. Betts also holds his bat almost perfectly parallel to the ground while Rafaela actually angles his bat slightly downward. But you get the idea. The two are so similar in size and setup that one imply cannot help but wonder if Rafaela bases his entire game on Betts. Does that make Rafaela Mookie 2.0? Of course not. Rafaela has batted .280 with an .806 OPS in his minor league career while Betts hit .316 with an .880 OPS before reaching the majors. And as we all know Betts has those lightning quick hands that may someday land him in the Hall of Fame. Is Rafaela an exact likeness. Again, of course not. But it's hard to look at Rafaela and not at least think about Betts. As if you needed another reason.