Prospect Review – Yonder Alonso – 1B – CIN

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The Basics
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
How Acquired: Drafted in the 1st round (#7 overall) of the 2008 Amateur Draft by the Reds
Age: 23

Statistics

2009 – Sarasota (Florida State League – Reds High-A) – 49 games

• .303/.383/.497
• 7 HR, 38 RBI, 0 stolen bases
• 24 walks, 30 strikeouts
• .333 BABIP

2009 – Carolina (Southern League – Reds AA) – 29 games

• .292/.372/.457
• 2 HR, 14 RBI, 1 stolen base
• 14 walks, 15 strikeouts

Rankings
Baseball America – #2 (CIN – 2010)
Baseball Prospectus – #4 (CIN – 2010) – 3 star
John Sickels – #3 (CIN – 2010) – B+

Analysis

Alonso was drafted out of the University of Miami in the 2008 draft, but only saw action in 6 games after signing with the Reds. 2009 was essentially his pro debut, and started his season at High-A Sarasota. He showed excellent plate discipline (24 walks to 30 strikeouts), along with some solid power (7 HR, 13 doubles) before being promoted to AA Carolina. Alonso was there for about 3 weeks before suffering a hamate bone injury which cost him almost 2 months of development time. August was a poor month for Alonso (.214/.358/.238), but he rebounded in September in split duty between AA Carolina and a brief call-up to AAA Louisville (.381/.447/.667).

I really like Alonso’s plate discipline (43 walks vs. 49 strikeouts overall), and think that the Reds could be trying to fast-track him towards the Majors. Alonso should develop power, and I could see him being a 20+ homer hitter in the Majors with a solid batting average.

The biggest concern I am seeing for Alonso right now is that he’s blocked at the Major League level, with 1B being played by Joey Votto. I get the impression that his fielding would limit him to either 1B or a corner outfield spot. He doesn’t really appear to have a lot of speed (1 SB, 0 triples), so I could see him potentially being a hindrance in the outfield as well. But thankfully, it’s  something the Reds do not have to decide on right now.

Outlook

Alonso looks like he’s going to develop into a pretty good hitter, both for average and for power. He’s probably 2 full seasons away from the Majors, especially if they cannot figure out a position to have him play effectively at the Major league level. However, they should be able to figure something out when his bat is ready.

Prediction for 2010

.295/.385/.490, 19 HR, 75 RBI (AA/AAA)

Expected ETA

Either late 2011 or early on in the 2012 season.

Tomorrow’s Prospect for Review (Last in the Series!): P Jacob Turner of the Detroit Tigers