For a professional baseball player, there are only so many chances that you have to carve out a serviceable career in the major leagues. One once-promising Philadelphia Phillies top prospect may be headed into his final opportunity entering the 2026 MLB season.
On Monday, former Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro signed a minor-league deal with the Kansas City Royals in what could be his last shot at glory in what has turned out to be an underwhelming career to date.
It was over a decade ago when Alfaro was one of the marquee players who came to Philadelphia in their Cole Hamels trade with the Texas Rangers at the 2015 deadline. As one of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline, Alfaro was expected to be the Phillies’ starting catcher of the future at the time.
Former Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro has struggled but is getting another chance with the Royals
Alfaro's MLB career began in the right direction when he posted a solid .270 average with a .749 OPS, with 47 runs scored, 22 doubles, 15 home runs and 51 RBIs in 143 games over his three years in Philadelphia after debuting in 2016.
However, there was one major caveat in his game that has ended up limiting his potential even to this date. Alfaro had a high strikeout rate along with an extremely high strikeout-to-walk ratio.
During his time with the Phillies, he recorded a whopping 179 strikeouts in just 467 at-bats for a 35.2 percent strikeout rate and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost 9-to-1.
As a result, with some doubt about his future effectiveness, Philadelphia went out and acquired their franchise catcher in J.T. Realmuto from the Miami Marlins. That franchise-altering move came at Alfaro's expense and another prospect bust Sixto Sánchez, in what has turned out to be one of the best trades in Phillies history.
As for Alfaro, rather than continue prospering in a starting catcher’s role, his strikeout totals continued to be his Achilles heel as he eventually dropped to backup status. Things have gone from bad to worse in recent years as he has spent more time in the minors than in the majors.
Last season, Alfaro spent the bulk of the year with the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate Nashville before latching on with the Washington Nationals in the last month of the regular season. With the Nationals, he compiled a .256 average, .564 OPS, along with three runs scored and three RBIs in 14 games.
Alfaro could challenge for a backup catcher’s role with the Royals with Carter Jensen being his main competitor. But with Jensen being Kansas City’s No. 1 MLB Pipeline prospect, the former Phillies catcher will have his work cut out for him.
Nevertheless, as much as his time with Philadelphia has likely been already forgotten for the most part, Phillies fans will always remember Alfaro for one thing at least: being a part of the key trade package to help land Realmuto.