How Atlanta Braves position players stack up in NL East: Catcher

(Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

5) Miami Marlins

Jorge Alfaro / Chad Wallach 

The Miami Marlins obviously go way down in the ranking in terms of catcher strength, being as they traded arguably the best player at the position in early February, Mr. Realmuto.

However, that trade with the Phillies gave the Marlins some pieces in other areas. Here’s how the trade went down:

Marlins get: (C) Jorge Alfaro / (SP) Sixto Sanchez / (P) Will Stewart / $250K INT signing money

Phillies get: (C) J.T. Realmuto

Promising Future

The 25-year-old Jorge Alfaro isn’t just some run-of-the-mill catcher. Alfaro accrued a 2.1 fWAR in 2018, while playing in 108 games for the Phillies. He’s a solid pitch-framer and plays great defense as well.

The Columbian hit .262 last season (.731 OPS) and posted an above-average wRC+ (96) for a catcher. There are some skeptics regarding Alfaro, thanks to his crazy .406 BABIP and high strikeout-rate of 36.6 percent in the 2018 campaign, but the fact that he has some power (10 HR in 2018) and is known for having a solid glove, he could be one adjustment away at the plate from being an All-Star catcher.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the trading of Realmuto turns out to be a successful deal made by Miami, as it looks like they got not just an above-average catcher; but also a highly regarded pitching prospect in Sixto Sanchez. The Marlins just gave away current value for potentially twice as much value in the future.

Update on Jorge Alfaro’s status: At the time of writing this column, Jorge Alfaro had been dealing with a knee injury. According to the Miami Herald, Jorge Alfaro has been shut down due to knee inflammation but is expected to return for Opening Day on March 28, per the Miami Herald:

"Alfaro initially injured the knee in the Grapefruit League opener on Feb. 23 after running into the dugout railing trying to track down a foul ball. Alfaro seemed to tweak the knee again on Tuesday when he was picked off at second base."

This is obviously bad news for the Marlins, as Alfaro is coming off a great 2018 season and, at the moment, Miami doesn’t really have any other options at the position.

The Backup

Chad Wallach frankly is your run-of-the-mill catcher. Wallach, 27, is a product of the college baseball powerhouse Cal State Fullerton; and was drafted by the Marlins in the fifth-round of the 2013 MLB Draft.

Wallach has spent most of his professional baseball career in the minor leagues, with a cup of coffee in 2017 (six games with the Reds) and a short stint last season with the Marlins (15 games). We’re talking about a career minus-0.1 fWAR catcher here, so the expectations aren’t too high.

However, there is a chance that you see Wallach a little more frequent than in his past, since Alfaro will be entering his first season as the defacto starting catcher and will not be expected to play 162 games for the Marlins in 2019. Essentially this may be the first real look for Wallach as a backup major league catcher, especially with the current development of Jorge Alfaro’s knee ailment.

Overall

There isn’t a whole lot of value at the catcher position for the Miami Marlins. The subtraction of Realmuto and the addition of Jorge Alfaro is going to sting for a little while, but in the long run should work out pretty well for the Marlins.

I wouldn’t say it’s going to be a horrible season for the Marlins, regarding their catchers, but compared to a pretty stacked NL East, the Marlins just don’t have anyone at the position to compete with the catchers of the division.

It will be interesting to see what kind of development comes from Jorge Alfaro, and whether or not Wallach turns into a respectable backup catcher for Miami. Overall, this team will probably be a pretty bad baseball team again, but I wouldn’t say their catchers are the driving force behind a rough 2019 season for the Marlins, assuming Alfaro doesn’t have a serious injury regarding the inflammation in his knee and is healthy once the regular season starts.