Omar Alfonzo Laid Strong Groundwork In First Taste Of Single-A

The catcher set himself up to be a player to watch in 2024 for the Pirates

When you are looking at prospects in the lower levels, sometimes you have to look past the base box score numbers. Young players can take some time to adjust to the pro level, so their statistics can be misleading.

There are signs, beyond the classic numbers, that you can watch for, and a lot of times its some of the most classic signs that they may be on to something - a player with a strong approach at the plate and can hit the ball hard, or are showing signs they may grow into more power.

Omar Alfonzo is a guy that fits both molds, and has positioned himself as a player to watch going into the offseason and beyond in the Pirates system.

The left-handed hitting catcher made his Single-A Bradenton debut on May 11th, and struggled through 24 at-bats, picking up just two hits and was striking out 33.3% of the time.

He hit the ball hard, and was actually a player I circled as check back in due to some of his early exit velocity numbers.

After a short stint in the FCL, Alfonzo returned not only has handled the catcher position well, but also became one of the Marauders’ better hitters.

Through Tuesday’s game, Alfonzo has slashed .288/.416/.441, seeing a jump in his walks (18.2%) and a drop in strikeouts (24.8%), while continued to hit the ball hard, and now that he was making consistent contact - the power numbers started to come.

In 168 total plate appearances, the 20-year-old has 10 extra base hits - four home runs, five doubles and a triple. He’s also driven in 34 batters in 48 games played at the Single-A level.

When it comes to his exit velocity numbers, he’s hit the ball slightly above what the major league average is (89.3 mph), with a max EV of 105.5 and a barrel rate of 6.2%.

One thing that a lot of teenagers struggle with is making contact with breaking and off speed pitches - Javier Rivas and Shalin Polanco are two notable prospects to have issues this year - but Alfonzo put up really strong contact numbers.

According to Prospects Live, his worst swinging strike rate was against breaking pitches at just 10.1%. For comparison sake, Polanco had a 21.5 SwStr% against breaking pitches, and Termarr Johnson - one of the most highly regarded hitting prospects in baseball - finished with a 10.7% rate.

So Alfonzo made better contact (albeit not by much) against breaking pitches than the Pirates best hitting prospect.

He’s also been solid defensively, throwing out 29.7% of would be base stealers in Bradenton, and has been seeing time at first base to get the bat in the lineup more.

The Pirates are no stranger to having good catchers in the organization, but with both Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis (position change too?) graduating, the prospect pool seems to be a bit light again.

He has some work to do before being considered a legitimate prospect, but when it comes to under-the-radar players to follow in 2024, not many set better groundwork than Alfonzo.