Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro ranked sixth-best catching prospect
By John Town
MLB.com ranked Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro as the sixth-best catching prospect in all of baseball, naming him a Rookie of the Year candidate.
MLB.com is continuing their series of top ten prospect rankings by position, releasing their list of the ten best catching prospects in baseball Thursday. Unsurprisingly, Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro made it onto the list.
Alfaro wound up on the list as the sixth-best catching prospect. He fell three spots from last year, when he ranked third overall. The top catcher on the list was Cleveland’s Francisco Mejia.
In addition to making the list, Alfaro garnered recognition in several of the list’s superlatives. Jim Callis wrote that Alfaro had the best speed, power, and arm. Alfaro also has the best chance of any of the players on the list to become Rookie of the Year as the only one who will probably be a starter this year.
Alfaro’s MLB Pipeline profile dives into what makes him a top-ten prospect:
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"Alfaro has bat speed and pop to spare from the right side of the plate, but the question has always been whether he would make enough contact to tap into it consistently. His strikeout rate was 31 percent in 2017, a big reason for his lack of production, and he doesn’t recognize pitches well or draw enough walks to offset that. His arm continues to help control the running game, as he threw out 33 percent of would-be Triple-A basestealers in 2017.The rest of his defensive game is behind the arm, but he has the agility and athleticism to stay behind the plate long term.Even during his successful big league callup, Alfaro’s strikeout-to-walk ratio was a bit skewed. He still has the raw ability to be a power-hitting big league regular, and should get the chance to show if he can handle it soon."
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Looking at Alfaro’s numbers from 2017, it’s hard to dispute why Alfaro fell on the list. He hit just .241 in 84 Triple-A games with seven home runs. He struck out in 32.3 percent of his plate appearances and walked in just 4.6 percent. Alfaro’s batting average jumped to .318 (largely in part to a ridiculous .420 batting average on balls in play) when he reached the majors, but his walk rate dropped to 2.6 percent and he still struck out 33 times in 114 plate appearances.
2017 was the first time Alfaro got an extended stretch of time in the major-leagues.
He got 17 plate appearances at the end of the 2016 season, but Alfaro got to start 29 games in the majors last year, including one at first base.
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With no more minor-league options left, Alfaro will be in the majors the entire season. He is expected to be the starter, with one of Cameron Rupp or Andrew Knapp backing him up. If everything breaks right for Alfaro, he could garner Rookie of the Year honors, but it’s a long shot.