(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Colombian catcher, Jorge Alfaro, agreed to a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs and received an invitation to Spring Training, Robert Murray of Fansided reported on Wednesday.
Alfaro, 30, was born in Sincelejo, Sucre, Colombia has played in Major League Baseball for eight seasons and made his debut on September 16, 2015 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Last season, Alfaro played with the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox in 18 games batting .146 with 52 plate appearances recording seven hits, four doubles, one home run, four RBI, two walks, and 15 strikeouts until he was designated for assignment from the Red Sox on August 1 shortly after he elected for free agency on August 4.
Alfaro signed as a free agent to a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins organization on August 15 and was assigned to Triple-A Jackonville for the remainder of the season until he elected free agency on November 6.
Alfaro in 2023 played with Triple-A Albuquerque with the Rockies, Triple-A Worcester with the Red Sox, and Triple-A Jacksonville with the Marlins for 64 games batting .291 in 278 plate appearances smacking 74 hits, 17 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 39 RBI, 14 walks, 65 strikeouts and a .798 OPS.
He played for Colombia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic during Pool C in Phoenix at Chase Field. Colombia went 1-3 in pool play and will have to qualify for the 2026 World Baseball due to the Total Quality Balance run differential rule from the World Baseball Softball Confederation and losing to Great Britain, which also ended up with the same record at 1-3 in Phoenix. Alfaro played in all four games during the 2023 WBC with 12 at-bats hitting .267 recording four hits, scoring four runs, smacking two doubles, one walk, and three strikeouts.
In 2022, Alfaro played in 82 games with the San Diego Padres hitting .246 with 274 plate appearances recording 63 hits, 14 doubles, seven home runs, 40 RBI, 11 walks, 98 strikeouts, and a .668 OPS before he elected free agency on November 18, 2022.
In his eight seasons in MLB, Alfaro has played with the Philadelphia Phillies from 2016–18 and the Miami Marlins from 2019–21 during his career. Alfaro at the major league level has played in 496 games with 1,710 plate appearances including a .253 average recording 402 hits, 71 doubles, four triples, 48 home runs, 198 RBI, 18 stolen bases, 72 walks, 581 strikeouts and a .695 OPS.
Alfaro has caught 417 games in his eight-year MLB career with 389 starts, 3,389.1 innings, 3,522 chances, 3,304 putouts, 186 assists, 32 errors and a .991 fielding percentage along with a 28% caught stealing percent.
Alfaro is currently playing for Tigres del Licey for the 2023-24 regular season in Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana.
The Cubs will have to evaluate during Spring Training at the catcher position with Alfaro competing with Yan Gomes and Miguel Amaya on which spot can be held for him either on the 40-man roster along with starting out the season in Triple-A Iowa or making the opening day roster for the 2024 regular season.
The Cubs will open up Spring Training at home at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ against the Chicago White Sox at 3 p.m. EST on February 23.