Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Galvis move pays dividends
not only hitting in clutch situations, but cutting down his strikeouts, too.
“He’s one of the leaders on the team by example,” Mackanin said. “He plays hard with energy and he loves to win and it shows.”
n The excitement stirring because of the way top catching prospect Jorge Alfaro has started the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley is understandable. Alfaro has played 16 games and has racked up a .354 batting average and .942 OPS. What makes the intrigue about him especially noteworthy is the start posted by Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp, who went oh-for-4 with three strikeouts Wednesday, earning himself a bench seat for Thursday’s series finale against the Marlins.
“He’s doing very well,” Mackanin said of Alfaro. “(Tuesday) night he hit the ball well and he threw a couple of guys out.”
Of course, there are others. Heading into Thursday’s game in Columbus, the IronPigs’ Nick Williams had recovered his batting average up to .290, while Rhys Hopkins was hitting .344 with five homers and 10 RBIs and a 1.092 OPS.
But Alfaro, 23, is probably thought of as the closest Lehigh Valley position player to a callup. Likely, that would only come if there were an injury to Rupp or backup Andrew Knapp. The thought is Alfaro would benefit from a solid season at Triple-A to help him improve defensively.
But it sounds as if he’s well on his way.
“Apparently he looks very good (defensively),” Mackanin said, “and I think he’s leading their team in hitting; knocking the cover off the ball.”
The first game of the series, washed out Tuesday night, will be made up Aug. 22 as a single admission (twi-night) doubleheader, with a 4:05 starting time . ... As part of the stellar job by the bullpen, Pat Neshek was facing always dangerous Giancarlo Stanton with two on and two outs in the seventh, just after the Marlins had closed to within 3-2. Neshek went at Stanton with his usual submarine stuff and struck him out. “Hitters don’t see that all the time,” Mackanin said of Neshek’s underarm delivery. “If they saw it all the time it would be less imposing. When you have to change your eyesight down to a knee or ankle level it’s really disruptive. The deception is what gets you out.” Said Neshek: “I like facing big righty guys, usually. That’s kind of what I’ve done all my career.”