Report: Phillies Promote Catcher Jorge Alfaro

When the Phillies traded long-time backstop Carlos Ruiz to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Phillies got catcher A.J. Ellis in return to take his spot on the Phillies roster.   However, the Phillies will be bringing another catcher into the fold this weekend: top prospect Jorge Alfaro.   According to a report from Yahoo's Jeff Passan, Alfaro is joining the Phillies in New York tomorrow evening.

The reason for the move is only one of practicality.  Ellis will indeed be the Phillies backup for catcher Cameron Rupp.   Major League Baseball allows a player 72 hours to report to his new team.  With Reading being just a couple hours from New York and Ellis all the way across the country, the Phillies will turn to Alfaro to serve as an emergency backstop for one or two games.

Alfaro is already a member of the 40-man roster.  Adding a catcher such as Andrew Knapp or Logan Moore from the system would require another move.  Having already been optioned to Double-A Reading in Spring Training, Alfaro can come up and quickly and easily re-join Reading, where the Fightin' Phils are running away with their division.

So Alfaro will be in a Phillies uniform and on a Major League roster Friday night, but he very well may not make an appearance.  In 2006, the Phillies added catcher Tim Gradoville to the Major League roster as insurance for Mike Lieberthal.  Gradoville never appeared in a game.  Alfaro might not this time, but he remains a candidate for a September call-up once Reading finishes the Double-A playoffs, preferably after winning a title.