Sags' Alfaro more than holding his own

The scariest thing about Jorge Alfaro's monster offensive production thus far in the Arizona Fall League? He's not even trying that hard.

"I don't put too much emphasis on my hitting," the Rangers' top prospect said. "I also have a job behind the plate, and my thoughts during my at-bats are pretty much just stay comfortable and compete every game."

On Saturday, Alfaro went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored to pace Surprise's bats in the Saguaros' 6-1 win over the Mesa Solar Sox. His double was his second in as many games, and he's now hitting .432 with eight RBIs over 10 AFL games.

But his defense -- Alfaro's main area of concentration in the AFL -- has also been a considerable factor. After picking off two baserunners Friday, he threw out the only Solar Sox player who attempted to steal on Saturday. He also handled a pitching staff that held red-hot Mesa to four hits and a walk.

"All I was doing throughout the game was throwing down pitches and the pitchers took it from there," the 20-year-old Colombian said. "[They were] executing down in the zone, which is very key. All the credit goes to the pitchers, especially working down in the zone."

Surprise's win makes it 10-6 on the season, with Mesa (10-5) being the only other team in the AFL with 10 victories. Mesa also leads the circuit with 97 runs scored. The Solar Sox are in first place in the East Division, with the Saguaros leading the way in the West.

"Pretty much coming into today's game, I have notes on my tablet," Alfaro said. "Going into today, we knew what kind of caliber this team was, what kind of hitters this team has to offer. I [refreshed] my mind, what I'm going to do for each hitter, what to call down for the pitcher."

In the regular season, Alfaro batted .265 with a .346 on-base percentage across three levels, with all but nine of his 113 games being played with Hickory in the Class A South Atlantic League. He's MLB.com's No. 55 overall prospect and experienced no anxiety about coming to the AFL and facing more experienced players.

"I knew I was going to see much older guys than me and I'm obviously doing something right and want to keep on doing what I've been doing," he said. "What I plan on getting out of it is just hopefully staying healthy and keep playing competitive baseball."

Jason Rogers (Brewers) was also 3-for-5 for Surprise. He homered and scored twice.

Boston prospect Miguel Pena gave up a run on three hits and a walk while whiffing three over four innings to improve to 1-1 with a 4.30 ERA.

Third-ranked Cubs prospect Jorge Soler doubled and scored a run for Mesa.