Jorge Mario Alfaro Buelvas (born June 11, 1993) is a Colombian

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who is a free agent. Alfaro signed with the Texas Rangers as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2010, and was traded to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2016, and has also played for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Early and personal life

Alfaro was born in

Sincelejo Sincelejo () is the capital and largest city of the Colombian department of Sucre. It is also the main city in the denominated '' Región Sabanas'' (Savannas Region), a subdivision of the Caribbean Region of Colombia, and the 23rd largest ci ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. Alfaro's younger brother Jhoandro is a catcher in the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

organization. Alfaro played baseball and soccer at Instituto Técnico Industrial Antonio Prieto, graduating in 2009.

Career

Texas Rangers organization

Alfaro signed with the Texas Rangers in June 2010 as a 16-year-old

for a $1.3 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

that was a record at the time for any Colombian prospect. In 2010, playing for the

DSL Rangers The Dominican Summer League Rangers or DSL Rangers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Dominican Summer League and Rookie affiliates of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Since 2014, the tea ...

in the

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only L ...

he batted .221/.278/.291 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 23

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs). In 2011, playing for the Class A Short-Season

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

in the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

, Alfaro batted .300/.345/.481 (9th in the league) with six home runs, 23 RBIs, and seven

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

(6th) in 160

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s, as on defense he allowed 12

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a ru ...

s and made 10

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

s in 36 games at catcher. He was a ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' Short-Season All Star and a

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Short-Season/Rookie All Star, and ''Baseball America'' named him the 8th-best prospect in the Northwest League. In 2012, playing for the Class A

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans Stadium, which opened i ...

in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, he batted .261/.320/.430 with five home runs and 34 RBIs in 272 at bats. ''Baseball America'' rated Alfaro the 9th-best Rangers prospect. Prior to the 2013 season Alfaro was ranked by

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

as the 88th-best prospect in baseball. Alfaro was ranked the 54th-best prospect by ''Baseball America''. In 2013, playing for Hickory in the South Atlantic League, he was a mid-season All Star, an MiLB.com Texas Organization All Star, and an

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

selection. He batted .258/.338/.452 with 16 home runs, 53 RBIs, and 18 hit by pitch (leading the league) in 372 at bats, as on defense he allowed 26 passed balls and made 10 errors in 82 games at catcher. ''Baseball America'' named him the 14th-best prospect in the South Atlantic League. He also had 21 at bats with the

AZL Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

, and 11 at bats with the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

. After the 2013 season he played for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Royal ...

in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

, where he was batted .386 (3rd in the league)/.438 (9th)/.500 with 18 runs (5th), six

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

s (6th), 11 RBIs, and three hit by pitch (2nd) in 70 at bats. He was named both a Rising Star and to the All-Prospect Team. In 2014 playing for Class A-Advanced Myrtle Beach he was

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

Player of the Week on August 4, a mid-season All Star, an MiLB Texas Organization All Star, and a post-season All Star. Alfaro was also the starting catcher for the World Squad at the

. For the season, he batted .261/.318/.440 with five triples (10th in the league), 13 home runs (6th), 73 RBIs (3rd), and 12 hit by pitch (4th), as on defense he allowed 18 passed balls and made 13 errors at catcher in 75 games. ''Baseball America'' named him the second-best prospect in the Carolina League. He also had 88 at bats with the Double-A

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, batting .261/.343/.443 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. On November 20, 2014, the Rangers added Alfaro to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. In 2015 playing for Frisco he was a mid-season All Star, and batted .253/.314/.432 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 190 at bats.

Philadelphia Phillies

On July 31, 2015, the Rangers traded Alfaro, Nick Williams, Matt Harrison,

Jake Thompson Jacob Keith Thompson (born January 31, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and for the Lotte Giant ...

Alec Asher Alec Edward Asher (born October 4, 1991) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, and Milwaukee Brewers and the Uni-President Lions of the Chine ...

, and

Jerad Eickhoff Jerad Joseph Eickhoff ( ; born July 2, 1990), is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. Eickhoff was drafted by ...

to the

for

Cole Hamels Colbert Michael Hamels (born December 27, 1983), nicknamed "Hollywood", is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2015), Texas Rangers ( ...

and Jake Diekman. In the remainder of 2015 he had four at bats with the

GCL Phillies The Florida Complex League Phillies are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Phillies. The team plays ...

. ''Baseball America'' named him the 5th-best prospect in the Phillies minor league system. Jorge Alfaro (28095386008) (cropped)

In 2016 playing for the Double-A

Reading Fightin Phils The Reading Fightin Phils (also called the Reading Fightins) are a Minor League Baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Northeast Division of the Eastern League. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Re ...

he was an Eastern League Player of the Week and Phillies Minor League Player of the Week on April 17, Phillies Minor League Defender of the Month for July, a mid-season All Star, and an MiLB Philadelphia Organization All Star. The Phillies promoted Alfaro to the major leagues on August 26. Alfaro was optioned back to Reading the next day. He was recalled on September 11 after the Reading season ended; he had batted .285/.325/.458 in Reading with 15 home runs (6th in the league), 67 RBIs (9th) and 105 strikeouts (tied for 5th) in 404 at bats. He had a total of 16 major league at bats in 2016, in which he had two hits and eight strikeouts. Alfaro played for Team Colombia in the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

. He entered 2017 ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 72 prospect, and the Phillies' No. 3 prospect. In 2017 he batted .318/.360/.514 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 107 major league at bats.">"Jorge Alfaro Stats" , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> Alfaro also had the second-fastest baserunning sprint speed of all major league catchers, at 28.1 feet/second. He had the highest

batting average on balls in play In baseball statistics, batting average on balls in play (abbreviated BABIP) is a measurement of how often batted balls result in hits, excluding home runs. It can be expressed as, "when you hit the ball and it’s not a home run, what’s your b ...

of all major league hitters with 100 or more at bats, at .420, swung at the highest percentage of balls outside the strike zone of all NL batters, at 46.2%, and swung and missed at an MLB-leading 21.7% of the pitches he saw. With the Class AAA

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, Alfaro was a mid-season All Star, and for the season he batted .241/.291/.358 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs in 324 at bats. In 2018 with the Phillies, Alfaro batted .262/.324/.407 with 10 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 14

(8th in the National League) in 344 major league at bats. He had the highest

of all major league hitters with 300 or more at bats, at .406. He also had the second-fastest baserunning sprint speed of all major league catchers, at 28.3 feet/second. On the other hand, he struck out 36.6% of the time, the highest rate in the National League and third-highest among all players in MLB with 300 or more plate appearances. He swung and missed at an MLB-leading 23.8% of the pitches he saw (the next-highest rate was Avisail Garcia's 19.0%), and swung at the highest percentage of balls outside the strike zone of all NL batters, at 46.9% (while having the lowest contact percentage with pitches outside the strike zone of all NL batters, at 42.9%). Jorge Alfaro (46826926795) (cropped)

On defense, in 2018 he had the best arm strength (90.8) and the third-best average pop time to second base (1.94 seconds) of all major league catchers, while he ranked fourth among all catchers in pitch framing according to ''

Baseball Prospectus Baseball Prospectus (BP) is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well as player and team perf ...

''. He led the NL in

catcher's ERA Catcher's ERA (CERA) in baseball statistics is the earned run average of the pitchers pitching when the catcher in question is catching. Its primary purpose is to measure a catcher's game-calling, rather than his effect on the opposing team's run ...

(3.45), and his 9.11 range factor per game ranked 2nd among National League catchers. However, Alfaro also led all NL catchers in

s (10) and

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s allowed (59; though he tied for 3rd in runners

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder whil ...

(21)), and tied for first in

s (11). ''Baseball America'' named him to its 2018 MLB All-Rookie Team.

Miami Marlins

On February 7, 2019, Alfaro was traded with

Sixto Sánchez Sixto Sánchez Encarnación (born July 29, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Sánchez was born in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He played shortstop as ...

Will Stewart John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term '' gen ...

, and $250,000 in international bonus slot money to the

in exchange for J. T. Realmuto. In 2019, he batted .262/.312/.425, and was 2nd in the NL with 11 passed balls, and 3rd with 11 errors. He had the fastest sprint speed of all major league catchers, at 28.8 feet/second. In 2020 he batted .226/.280/.344, and was 2nd in the NL with 4 passed balls. He had the lowest framing percentage of all major league catchers. In 2021, he batted .244/.283/.342 in 92 games. After July he was moved to left field, where he played for the majority of August and September.

San Diego Padres

On November 30, 2021, the Marlins traded Alfaro to the

in exchange for cash or a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

, turned out to be cash considerations. In 2022 Jorge Alfaro has hit 4 walk-off hits as of September 7th. On November 18, 2022, Alfaro was non tendered by the Padres and became a free agent.

References

External links

Jorge Alfaro
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Jorge Alfaro
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfaro, Jorge 1993 births Living people People from Sincelejo Arizona League Rangers players Colombian expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Rangers players Colombian expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Frisco RoughRiders players Florida Complex League Phillies players Hickory Crawdads players Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Leones de Ponce players Colombian expatriate baseball players in Puerto Rico Major League Baseball players from Colombia Major League Baseball catchers Miami Marlins players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Fightin Phils players San Diego Padres players Spokane Indians players Surprise Saguaros players Tiburones de La Guaira players Colombian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela 2017 World Baseball Classic players