Jorge Alfaro and Vinnie Pasquantino Fantasy Baseball Updates - Ben Rosener’s MLB Beat

Ben Rosener looks at the fantasy baseball impact of Jorge Alfaro's call-up to the Rockies and the news that Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will miss the rest of the 2023 season.

Major League Baseball’s regular season is here, and with it comes the daily influx of baseball news that fantasy managers missed in the winter months. Lineup news, actual games happening, constant waiver wire moves, pitching assignments, and bullpen usage.

This column aims to cover any fantasy baseball news, big or small, and how it pertains to your fantasy team. Spring training or the regular season, it's covered here.

Has a player who's usually been hitting in the middle of a lineup suddenly batting eighth or ninth for an extended period? The fantasy implications will be covered here. The same goes for injuries and injured placements and whether or not you should consider picking up a player who was recently called up. Basically, any kernel of fantasy news and its relevance to fantasy managers could be covered here. Today, the news of the day is the fantasy impact of catcher Jorge Alfaro having his contract selected by the Colorado Rockies and the news that Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will miss the rest of the 2023 season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

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Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Jorge Alfaro Having His Contract Selected By The Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies selected catcher Jorge Alfaro’s contract on Wednesday, per a tweet from the National League West club’s official communications department Twitter account.

Alfaro last appeared in the Majors with the division-rival San Diego Padres during the 2022 campaign, hitting .246 with a .285 on-base percentage, seven home runs, and a stolen base in 274 plate appearances. Most recently, he’s enjoyed a highly successful start to the season in the minors, batting .323 with a .366 on-base percentage, seven home runs, and five stolen bases in 205 plate appearances split between the Rockies and Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliates.

With Elias Diaz off to a solid this year, hitting .295 with a .351 on-base percentage and six home runs in 231 plate appearances, it’s possible that Alfaro might need to move around the diamond to see consistent playing time, although that’s purely speculative. Though it is worth noting that the 30-year-old does have some experience playing first base and the outfield corners, so he could provide some useful versatility for both the Rockies and fantasy managers.

For now, despite home games at Coors Field, Alfaro is more of just an option in deeper fantasy leagues until we see what his playing time looks like. If he’s more than just a bench option for the Rockies, he could be worth a look outside of deeper fantasy leagues.

Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Vinnie Pasquantino Missing The Rest Of The 2023 Season Due To Shoulder Injury

Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will miss the rest of the 2023 season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder, per a tweet from the American League Central club’s official Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon:

Pasquantino was enjoying a quality season at the plate for the Royals, logging a .350 xwOBA in 260 plate appearances to go along with nine home runs, a .247 batting average, a .324 on-base percentage, a 9.6% walk rate, and just an 11.9% strikeout rate. The injury to the slugger all but ensures Nick Pratto will receive regular playing time down the stretch.

Pratto, who has split time between first base, left field, and right field this season, is batting .278 with a .362 on-base percentage, four home runs, and a stolen base in 174 plate appearances spread across 43 games. MLBOverall, it’s a tough blow for both the Royals, as well as for fantasy managers. Though it's a particularly unideal situation for Kansas City as there aren’t any obvious options, in-house options to replace Pasquantino’s production in the lineup.

Entering play Wednesday, only three teams in the league had scored fewer runs than the Royals. Kansas City also owned the second-lowest collective wRC+ with a wRC+ of 83. What's more, the team had also connected on the sixth-fewest home runs in the sport, with 64 homers.

Matt Duffy has been productive in a part-time role for the Royals, hitting .312 with a .365 on-base percentage and a home run in 85 plate appearances, but he’s done all that with a .404 BABIP and just a .296 xwOBA. Duffy has experience playing all across the infield in his Major League career, with most of his playing time coming at third base. Still, even if he can step into a regular role somewhere after the Pasquantino injury, the 32-year-old veteran has been unable to replicate the power he showed earlier in his career when he hit 12 home runs in 612 plate appearances for the San Francisco Giants during the 2015 season.

Since the start of the 2016 campaign, Duffy has hit just 18 home runs in 1,749 Major League plate appearances. He’s really only an option in deeper fantasy leagues if he steps into a regular role with Pasquantino out for the season on the injured list.

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