Rangers' Alfaro gets career-high five hits

Myrtle Beach hitting coach Josue Perez doesn't have an easy job, but with Jorge Alfaro, he can make it simple: See the ball as well as possible, and if the pitch looks good, swing at it.

Of late, Perez has worked with the Rangers' top prospect on getting into his load and starting his swing sooner, hoping it would improve his pitch recognition. Alfaro saw the ball just fine Tuesday, when his five hits helped Myrtle Beach to a 12-6 win over Salem in Class A Advanced Carolina League action.

Alfaro went 5-for-5 with a triple, a double, four RBIs and two runs. The 20-year-old is 8-for-14 with three extra-base hits in his past three games after going 1-for-14 over the previous four games.

The five-hit game was the first for Alfaro, whose previous career high was three -- the backstop had three three-hit games this season prior to Tuesday. The five hits also tied a franchise record for Myrtle Beach -- the feat had been accomplished six other times, last by catcher Zach Zaneski on May 3, 2011 at Potomac.

The biggest difference for Alfaro has been adjusting his mental approach and the timing of his swing to get himself into a better "hitting position," per Perez.

"Jorge has been a work in progress," the hitting coach said. "When you talk about being in a hitting position, it's about being in a position to strike, getting ready to hit. … As he gets himself into a position to hit the ball, he's able to see the ball and recognize pitches better and go from there."

The Colombia native began his day with a leadoff double in the second inning, later coming around to score on a single by Hanser Alberto. Alfaro led off again in the fourth, singling on a line drive to left. Myrtle Beach batted around that inning, so after Alfaro scored, he picked up an RBI on a two-out single later in the frame.

His fourth hit was his biggest. Batting with the bases loaded in the sixth, Alfaro drove a hanging slider into the right-center field gap for a three-run triple. Alfaro was stranded at third, but the inning put the Pelicans up 12-3 through six frames.

Alfaro struggled through his first month in the Carolina League, hitting .264 with just one homer and a 26-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in April. He's hit for more power in May, homering four times and adding four doubles, but was hitting just .250 with a .756 OPS on the month before Tuesday.

The issue, according to Perez, was that Alfaro was late getting his body into a position to hit -- both a physical and mental problem. Because his body was starting late, he wasn't in an ideal position to see pitches out of the hurler's hand, spoiling his ability to recognize pitches while also forcing him to speed his bat to get the bat to the ball in time.

"It's just a matter of being late being ready to hit," Perez said. "He's been working on getting into a good position to hit more consistently, staying in the middle of the field. … He did that tonight for sure. He got into a position to hit and from there, he did his damage."

Third baseman Joey Gallo went 0-for-2, but drew three walks and stole his fifth base of the season. The Rangers' No. 4 prospect has 16 walks in his past 10 games and 44 free passes in 49 games this season.

Perez said Carolina League pitchers have begun pitching around Gallo even more of late and some of the walks have been a result of balls nowhere near the strike zone. But Gallo's still had to earn many of those free passes with his pitch selection and ability to work counts.

"You want him to drive the ball, and he's done a good job not swinging at bad pitches," Perez said. "If it's not a hittable pitch, he's saying, 'So be it, let it go.' Some of the pitches are not very far out of the zone, and he's being very patient."