Who Will Make Red Sox Opening Day Roster? Impressive Slugger Making Interesting Case
Opening Day is quickly approaching and that means the Boston Red Sox will have to trim down the roster in the not-so-distant future.
Boston officially will begin the 2023 season at Fenway Park on March 30 when it welcomes the Baltimore Orioles to town. The Red Sox have been red-hot to open Grapefruit League action and have gotten some impressive play out of some unexpected places.
The Red Sox will have to determine their 26-man active roster ahead of Opening Day and one player that is going to make the team's decisions more difficult certainly is catcher Jorge Alfaro.
Alfaro has played in four Grapefruit League games for Boston -- including Monday's action with Chris Sale on the mound -- and is leading the team in batting averaging at an eye-popping .700 and is slashing .700/.727/.900 overall.
The 29-year-old entered camp with Boston on a minor-league contract but many have speculated that he actually could make the big league roster outright. The Red Sox entered spring training with Reese McGuire and Connor Wong as the expected big-league duo in 2023, but Wong suffered a hamstring injury and Alfaro certainly has made the most of his opportunity.
Alfaro is set to join Team Colombia in the World Baseball Classic later this week but may make one more appearance with Boston before leaving camp. The 29-year-old has shown an impressive bat so far this offseason while impressing team officials behind the scenes with his work ethic and improvement behind the plate thanks to help from former Boston catcher and captain Jason Varitek.
Boston hasn't given a timeline on Wong's return from his hamstring injury, but the longer he is out, the more likely it is that Alfaro makes the big league roster. Although he won't be with the Red Sox as he takes part in the World Baseball Classic, the team likely will be keeping a close eye on him and an impressive performance could only help his case.
The Red Sox certainly will have some decisions to make soon and if Alfaro continues to shine, we likely will see him on the Opening Day roster for Boston.
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