Ademar Rifaela
| Ademar Rifaela | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Free agent | ||||||||||||||||||
| Outfielder | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born: 20 November 1994 Willemstad, Curaçao | ||||||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Left | ||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Ademar Rifaela (born 20 November 1994) is a Dutch-Curaçaoan professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. After spending seven seasons in the Baltimore Orioles' minor leagues system, Rifaela has played in the Mexican League and in winter leagues in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Nicaragua. He represented the Netherlands at the 2019 and 2023 European Baseball Championships, winning the gold and bronze medals, respectively.
Professional career
Baltimore Orioles
Rifaela spent seven seasons in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system between 2013 and 2019. He began his professional career in 2013 with the Dominican Summer League Orioles and advanced to the Gulf Coast League Orioles in 2014.[1]
In 2015, he split the season between the Delmarva Shorebirds and the Aberdeen IronBirds, and in 2016 between Delmarva and the Frederick Keys. He spent the entire 2017 season with Frederick, where he was named Carolina League Most Valuable Player.[2]
Rifaela reached Double-A with the Bowie Baysox in 2018 and split the 2019 season between Bowie and the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. He elected free agency after the 2019 season.[3]
Quick Amersfoort
On 12 August 2020, Rifaela joined Quick Amersfoort of the Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse.[4][5]
Sioux City Explorers
On 23 March 2022, Rifaela signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Professional Baseball.[6] He batted .315/.377/.491 with 30 hits, 68 runs and 43 RBIs in 62 appearances.[1]
Mexican League
On 29 December 2022, Rifaela signed with the Guerreros de Oaxaca of the Mexican League, ahead of the 2023 season.[7] On 27 June 2023, he was traded to the Generales de Durango in exchange for Aneury Tavárez.[8] He finished the season as the league RBI leader with 83 RBI in 90 games, appearing in 54 games for Oaxaca and 36 for Durango.[9]
After appearing in 29 games during the 2024 season, Rifaela was released by the Generales on 3 June 2024.[3] On 8 June, he was signed by the Bravos de León but was released by the club on 14 July after 26 games.[3][10]
International career
Rifaela represented the Netherlands at the 2019 European Baseball Championship, where he won the gold medal. He appeared in all seven games for the Dutch team, recording 10 runs, 11 hits, one double, six home runs, 17 RBIs and a .407 batting average. He led the tournament in runs, home runs, and RBIs, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship.[11][12]
In 2023, Rifaela was part of the Dutch team that won the bronze medal at the 2023 European Baseball Championship.[13][14] He appeared in five games, recording three runs, eight hits, two doubles, one home run and a .333 batting average across 24 at bats.[15]
References
- ^ a b "Ademar Rifaela Minor, Winter, Independent & Mexican Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "Rifaela Named Carolina League MVP". MiLB.com. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ a b c "Ademar Rifaela Stats, Age, Position, Height, Weight, Fantasy & News". MiLB.com. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ Stoovelaar, Marco (12 August 2020). "Quick Amesfoort adds professional and international Ademar Rifaela to roster". Grand Slam * Stats & News Netherlands. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ van Zon, Rogier (13 August 2020). "Ademar Rifaela naar Quick Amersfoort". honkbalsoftbal.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ Teunissen, Gage (23 March 2022). "Sioux City Explorers sign Ademar Rifaela, Blake Tibera". KCAU 9 News. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "Guerreros: Ademar Rifaela será bélico en la Temporada 2023". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 29 December 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "Generales cambia a Tavárez". El Siglo de Durango (in Spanish). 27 June 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "LMB: Ademar Rifaela conquista la cima de remolcadas". MiLB.com (in Spanish). 7 August 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "Ademar Rifaela buscará tomar protagonismo en su llegada a los Bravos". bravosdeleon.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "Netherlands win the 2019 Baseball European Championship in Bonn". mister-baseball.com. 15 September 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "European Championship A-Pool - Individual Statistics". baseballstats.eu. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ Skodnick, Leif (22 September 2023). "Netherlands Announces Roster for 2023 European Championship". World Baseball Network. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "Netherlands edges out Germany in Extra-Inning to capture Bronze Medal at Baseball European Championship". wbsceurope.org. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
- ^ "Rifaela, Ademar". wbsceurope.org (in Spanish). WBSC Europe. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
External links
- Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)