Red Sox catcher Jorge Alfaro arrives to spring training
The Red Sox have been waiting for catcher Jorge Alfaro to arrive at camp to begin spring training. After dealing with visa issues, Alfaro arrived at Jet Blue Complex on Sunday.
Boston signed the 29-year-old catcher in mid-January to a minors pact.
The Colombia native will earn a $2 million base salary if he makes the major league roster. His minor-league deal includes opt-outs on June 1 and July 1. If Alfaro is with Triple-A Worcester, he will have the opportunity to opt-out and pursue a major league job.
This week manager Alex Cora talked about his new catcher. At the time of the quote, Alfaro wasn’t in camp.
“He’s not here yet,” Cora said. “But we found a few things defensively that we can help him to get better. He has a cannon and obviously, he’s a good athlete. He hits the ball hard.”
Alfaro will participate in the World Baseball Classic in March. His time in Red Sox camp will be limited to the next few weeks.
Boston has Reese McGuire and Connor Wong as their expected catchers on the big league roster. There’s some within the organization that believes Alfaro will end up seeing the bulk of time behind the dish this season, per source.
Last season with the Padres, Alfaro batted .246/.285/.383 with 14 doubles, seven homers, 40 RBIs, 25 runs scored, one stolen base, 11 walks, and 98 strikeouts over 274 plate appearances.
Alfaro played this winter in the Dominican League and he earned the honors of MVP of the championship series.
“He had a great winter down there in the Dominican Republic,” said Cora.
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