Gardner: Can’t Complain With What Alfaro’s Given The Phillies
The Phillies have a history of talented players who have played the Catcher position over the last 50 years with Bob Boone, Darren Daulton, Mike Lieberthal, and Carlos Ruiz all being named All-Star representatives for the franchise. The organization is hopeful that Jorge Alfaro will develop into the next All-Star Catcher; the 2018 season is his first starting the year at the Major League level. Alfaro was acquired three years ago by the Phillies as part of the trade that sent Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers. In 35 Games this season, Alfaro has tallied Four Home Runs and 10 RBI along with leading the National League in Runners Caught Stealing by Catchers (9).
USA Today Baseball Writer Steve Gardner joined Rich Quinones on Thursday and talked about the Phillies' young Catcher:
"Even from when he was a prospect in the Rangers organization, there were always people who were raving about him defensively - The question was whether he’d be able to hit in the Major Leagues; Last year when he hit over .300 in that small sample that he had, I think people got a little maybe overly excited about his (hitting) tools. This year is more in line with what we can probably expect going forward. Maybe as he matures, he’s 25 (years old), maybe as he gets closer to 30, maybe the hitting comes around as it does for a lot of catchers, they get better as they get older...He’s been an excellent starter for (the Phillies), given them everything that they needed defensively behind the plate calling games. Maybe he deserves some of the credit too for the pitching staff being as good as they have been this season - You can’t complain at all with what Alfaro’s given them behind the plate."
Hear what Gardner had to say about the Phillies' Pitching staff, Gabe Kapler, and perspective on the top stories around Major League Baseball