Philadelphia Phillies: Andrew Knapp or Jorge Alfaro?

With an aging Carlos Ruiz and solid backup in Cameron Rupp behind the dish for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team has two options to take over the majority of the playing time behind the dish in the near future in Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp.

Alfaro, acquired in the Cole Hamels deal at the trade deadline, has played in only three games for a Phillies affiliate after a broken left ankle kept him sidelined for much of the second half of last season. In those three games in Rookie ball, the 22-year-old gathered just four at-bats, going 2-for-4.

According to Baseball America’s new Phillies prospect rankings, Alfaro is ranked as the 5th prospect in the Philadelphia system behind shortstop J.P. Crawford, outfielder Nick Williams, right-hander Jake Thompson and fellow catcher Knapp. Williams and Thompson were both acquired in the Hamels deal along with Alfaro and Jerad Eickhoff, who shined in his time in the Majors late last season. Knapp was selected in the 2nd round (#53) by the Phillies in 2013.

Knapp has also dealt with injuries during his pro career, after a pop in his throwing arm required Tommy John surgery after just 62 pro games. Since returning, the 24-year-old catcher had performed well enough to garner a mid-season call-up to Double-A Reading in 2015 where he officially broke out. With the Fightin Phils, Knapp hit .360 with a .419 on-base percentage along with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs. Each of these marks were career-highs at any one stop, and he achieved these feats in his second-lowest at-bat total (214)  on his journey.

Knapp is also a switch-hitter that saw nine of his round-trippers in Double-A come against right-handers, but also saw his average above the .400 mark–at .431 in 58 at-bats–against left-handers.

With this strong showing in Reading, and a good Arizona Fall League (.235/.375 OBP/10 RBI), Knapp may be primed to start the 2016 season in Triple-A with the IronPigs. With Alfaro missing most of the second half last season he’ll likely start the season in Reading to work on his craft behind the plate, mainly his receiving and blocking skills, which Baseball America ($) deems as below-average.

When it comes to throwing out base stealers, Knapp holds a slight edge between the two with a 29% to 27% career caught stealing mark.

Carlos Ruiz is signed through the 2016 season, and at the age of 37 it will likely be his last with the team. Cameron Rupp is signed through 2020 and could either take the reigns on the starting job in 2017 as Knapp and Alfaro develop behind him, or could be a suitable backup for many years.

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In the linked Baseball America article, they also mention that Alfaro could be an outfielder (right field with his arm strength) if his defense behind the plate does not improve. If I were to bet on which one will be making their mark behind the plate for the Phillies, it would have to be Knapp. Before the Hamels trade that brought Alfaro over he was batting a solid .337 with two home runs and 19 RBIs in 22 games July games with Reading. The month of August is when he really broke out, batting .404 with eight bombs and 28 driven in.

It looks as though Knapp is a tough competitor, so taking the job from him will be a tall task.