Alfaro proving to be 'fearless at the plate'
CLEVELAND -- Jorge Alfaro has been under the microscope since Feb. 7, when Miami acquired him in a four-player trade that sent All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto to the Phillies.
Admittedly, following in Realmuto’s footsteps -- and taking over for him in the field -- is not an enviable position, but the three-year veteran is fitting in nicely with his new team.
“The guy has been great for us,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Wednesday. “Jorge comes in enthusiastic every day and has tons of energy. He also is another guy who asks a lot of questions and he’s fearless at the plate. When he steps in there, there is no give in at all.”
Alfaro showed off his all-around skills in Miami’s 3-1 win over the Indians one night earlier, hitting a solo home run and calling a strong game that helped right-hander Pablo Lopez carry a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
Lopez and Mattingly both credited his pitch selection for keeping Cleveland off-balance and holding it to three total hits, but Alfaro deflected the praise back to his pitcher.
The 25-year-old backstop also downplayed his homer off reliever Neil Ramirez that opened the scoring in the fifth inning. It came on the first pitch of the frame.
“I just tried to get a pitch that I could make contact with,” said Alfaro, who has a team-high four home runs. “I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. I just got one that I liked right away.”
Standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 233 pounds, Alfaro is built like a slugger. Until this season, however, the right-handed batter hasn’t hit for power, managing 15 homers in 143 MLB games.
Mattingly strongly believes that his current surge -- and his third-place standing among NL catchers in homers -- is not a fluke.
“Jorge has huge power,” Mattingly said. “And he has huge power the other way to center. We think his swing works better to right-center field, and we’re going to continue working on that. He swings away at times, but that’s typically a lack of patience. We can help him get away from that, and I’m confident that he will.”
Injury update
Reliever Austin Brice, who is on the injured list with gastroenteritis, began a rehab assignment Tuesday at Single-A Jupiter. The righty tossed one scoreless inning at Palm Beach.
Brice is eligible to be activated on Friday. He owns a 2.61 ERA in six appearances this season, striking out eight in 10 1/3 innings.