Jorge Alfaro is a catcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. The 23 year old slowly made a name for himself with a cannon from behind home plate and with a bat that can unleash some serious power.
The Phillies acquired Alfaro from the Rangers in Cole Hamels trade, in 2015. He was sidelined with ankle injuries and would have to wait until 2016 to prove that he was worth the $1.3 million signing bonus. following ankle surgery.
Alfaro has always shown off his power arm and bat, but it wasn’t until the World Baseball Classic that he really made a name for himself. The Colombia native lead his country to a hard fought 1-2 record. Although 1-2 is usually nothing to be proud of, the Colombians weren’t even favored to qualify for the World Baseball Classic. They beat the Panamanians to qualify, but were expected to go 0-3. They played the most defensively sound baseball taking two of the top favorites in the United States and the Dominican Republic into extra inning losses.
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Colombia would not have played to that level without the bat and glove of Alfaro. Alfaro plays the anchor role for team Colombia, that Manny Machado plays for the Dominican Republic. Though that is a bold statement and though there is still work to be done in terms of his pitch selection and plate discipline, he continues to show the ability to drive the ball to all fields while neutralizing the running game with his arm strength.
The Phillies do have other options ahead so they can allow him to continue to develop, but he has a higher ceiling than any option in their system. Alfaro is listed as MLB.com’s #72 ranked overall and he will continue to fight for an MLB spot throughout Spring Training and will fight to end the 2017 MLB season as the starting catcher.
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Featured Photo: (philly.com)
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