Jorge Alfaro likely would have spent the last five weeks in Allentown had the Phillies not needed him in August after Andrew Knapp broke his hand. Alfaro, one of the team’s top prospects, was expected to finetune his catching in triple A in preparation of assuming a full-time role with the Phillies in 2018.
His development was instead taken to the majors, perhaps a bit earlier than scheduled. Alfaro is not a finished project but he has likely played his final minor-league game. And the Phillies will need him to develop on the job.
“Sometimes you have to finish guys here in the big leagues,” said Dusty Wathan, who managed Alfaro the last two seasons in the minor leagues and joined the Phillies this week as a coach for the rest of the season.