Ademar Rifaela
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ademar Rifaela | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free agent | ||||||||||||||||||
| Outfielder | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born: 20 November 1994 Willemstad, Curaçao | ||||||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Left | ||||||||||||||||||
Medals
| ||||||||||||||||||
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.
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]