Eating crow, Padres edition
Jorge Alfaro is proving a lot of people wrong, and now seems to have taken over as the starting catcher of the San Diego Padres. Not many believed in him before this season outside of A.J. Preller.
The San Diego Padres moved to 43-27 last night, and a 1st place tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers, after yet another walk-off hit by Jorge Alfaro and it led me to thinking about the ways in which I was wrong about this team.
One of the things I was most loudly critical of the team around to start the season was having Alfaro on the roster. Sure, the thing that bothered me the most was yet another catcher in the way of Luis Campusano getting an opportunity at the MLB level, but I was also not confident that Jorge Alfaro would be any better in San Diego than he had been with the Phillies or Marlins.
Here’s how that’s going:
Jorge Alfaro has taken the starting catcher job away from Austin Nola by being both the best defensive and offensive catcher in the organization.
He’s posted the highest walk rate of his career.
He’s posted the highest ISO of his career.
He’s posted the highest wRC+ of his career.
There’s a bunch of other numbers I can go over, but here’s what you need to know:
Outside of his rookie season, when he played 29 games for the Phillies in 2017, Alfaro has never come closer to the numbers he has through 37 games this season. Part of that is undoubtedly luck (although his .390 BABIP is not his career high!), but every single offensive statistic is either as high as it’s ever been in his career or is neck-and-neck with the rookie season where he didn’t play this many games.
Without a doubt, getting Jorge Alfaro was a brilliant move by A.J. Preller and is helping to lead the team towards a playoff run. Speaking of which, I need to eat some crow about that, as well.
I have definitely criticized A.J. Preller for his tendency to bring for Rangers prospects into the Padres organization. It shouldn’t make sense! These guys have all had plenty of opportunity at the MLB level and have shown themselves to not be useful.
Yet, with one exception, I think every single one of them has posted some of their career best numbers with the Padres. Let’s go through the list:
Yu Darvish was great for most of the season last year and is back to being great again this season.
Jurickson Profar was a revelation in 2020 and is probably nearing “irreplaceable” status as we head towards the trade deadline in 2022.
Nomar Mazara’s 115 OPS+ through his first 17 games with the Padres is the highest of his career by a mile, making him the first good left-handed option in RF that the team has found this year.
Nick Martinez has been one of the more valuable members of the pitching staff, bouncing back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen and generally performing well each time he’s out there.
Jorge Alfaro went from also-ran to above-average starting catcher and one of the emotional ballasts of this clubhouse.
The only exception to this is when Preller traded for Mitch Moreland in 2020, who then proceeded to fall apart offensively without the green monster to boost his numbers.
I will try my best to never again doubt the scouting eye of A.J. Preller, even if he’s just trusting his instincts from his pre-Padres days. He can apparently find a way to get something out of these guys that other teams just can’t. I wonder which former Ranger he’ll revive next?
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