Jorge Alfaro's hot bat gets him more starts at catcher; Reiss Knehr struggled in Triple-A, has excelled so far in majors
Manager Bob Melvin could return to the team as soon as Monday if he tests negative for COVID twice 24 hours apart before then.“He feels really good,” Flaherty said.day after the onset of symptoms. That means the latest Melvin will return is Wednesday.
Nola has essentially become the personal catcher for Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove with Alfaro catching Sean Manaea. The two catchers have switched off catching MacKenzie Gore and Nick Martinez . Alfaro has a 1.043 OPS over his past 11 games. His .798 OPS for the season ranks second on the Padres, though he does not have enough plate appearances to be considered a qualifier. Alfaro’s five home runs are fifth most on the team. He has 63 fewer at-bats than any of the Padres player with more homers.Reiss Knehr decided to enjoy the moment and throw strikes when he returned to the major leagues last week.The right-hander, who had a 7.
“It’s that mentality of just going out there and not focusing on the result,” he said. “Just focus on every pitch and where it should be and execute that pitch.”