Jorge Alfaro opts of deal with Red Sox; Who is next man up for WooSox catching duties and MLB depth?
It has been reported today that Red Sox catcher Jorge Alfaro has exercised his opt-out clause in his contract and will test free agency.
Alfaro has been swinging one of the hottest bats down in Worcester batting .320 and carrying an OPS of .887. He had been consistently hitting in the 3-hole for Chad Tracy’s lineup for the WooSox. Alfaro led the WooSox in hits (56), doubles (13), and batting average (.320).
Jorge Alfaro continues to swing hot bat for WooSox
The Red Sox will have 48 hours to block Alfaro’s opt-out by adding him to the 26-man roster. Alex Cora told the media yesterday that the organization is happy with the Connor Wong-Reese Mcguire catching tandem. Adding Alfaro would also require clearing a spot on the 40-man roster.
WooSox Catching Duties
Following Alfaro’s opt-out, the WooSox will have two catchers left on the roster in Caleb Hamilton and Ronaldo Hernandez.
Hamilton has always been a defense first type of catcher and this year has been no different. The 28-year-old is currently hitting .185 in 23 games played this season. Every start has come at catcher besides one game as the DH and one game at third base. WooSox manager Chad Tracy has called Hamilton “the best framer in the minor leagues” and has raved about his defensive game. The amount of games behind the plate even with Alfaro on the roster shows how much Tracy values what Hamilton brings.
Hernandez is in a bit of a different position. The Columbian native has played in 24 games this year, with all of them coming at DH besides just six games behind the plate. The 25-year-old caught 67 games last year for the WooSox and one would figure he will start to see more time there now that Alfaro is off the Triple-A roster. He would be considered a bat-first catcher, which he showed off last season in Worcester when he put up 17 home runs.
The WooSox could go about it in three different ways.
One way would be to move forward with Hamilton as the starting catcher, due to his ability to lead a pitching staff and provide excellent defense behind the dish. Hamilton played 11 games for the Minnesota Twins last season at catcher, so he has already experienced a major league game and could be valuable depth down the line if an injury comes up.
Another option would be to split up the catching duties 50-50 between the two. Hernandez has now been in the Red Sox system since 2021 and it seems he may be at a crossroads in his Red Sox tenure. He was called up to the majors twice last season for emergency one game stints but did not appear either time. Chaim Bloom acquired him in a trade with Tampa Bay, so obviously Bloom has some kind of connection to him. We might see Hernandez get behind the plate a lot more over the month of June and see how he handles it.
The other option I have seen floated around is calling up a catcher from Portland to serve as a backup to Hamilton. Stephen Scott is already 26 years old and might be close to being ready for Triple-A action. A guy like Hernandez could stick in a DH-exclusive type of role in that case or catch sporadically like he has been doing over the first bit of the season.
As it stands without any outside additions being made, Hamilton is your top catching depth option in the organization that would be MLB-ready. The Wong-Mcguire tandem has held its own this season, but we are one injury away from having to dip down into that depth and add Hamilton to the 40-man roster.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @ByAndrewParker
For additional Red Sox and Major League Baseball content, follow Beyond the Monster: Boston Red Sox on Twitter @BeyondtheMnstr
Join our new Facebook group for all of our latest content, click the link here.
