Baseball America article on Yonder Alonso

[OnBaseMachine]

Baseball America has a nice article up on Yonder Alonso today. I can't post it since it's premium material, but I recommend those of you who subscribe to BA to read it. It's not hard to see why the Reds like this guy. There's a nice little story about him and Votto during spring training.

During spring training, the Reds had Alonso locker next to Votto, and the two ended up having a friendly competition to see who could show up the earliest to camp each morning. The first day Alonso showed up at 6:45 A.M. but Votto arrived at 6:30, the next day Alonso showed up earlier to beat that, and this continued until the Reds finally told them to stop showing up so early. We've heard all about how hard of a worker Votto is and it sounds like he's got some competition now. Along with his strong workmanship, the Reds love his patience at the plate.

The Sarasota manager Joe Ayrault says Alonso could be hitting .350 right now. He says Alonso has been hitting rocket line drives and deep flyouts right at the defenders. His .257 BABIP backs that up. Ayrault also praised Alonso's work ethic and his dedication on becoming a better defensive first baseman. He says the Reds can build championship-caliber teams around Alonso. He says Alonso has some of the best plate discipline he's ever seen out of a Single-A hitter and he's great at making adjustments at the plate from atbat to atbat.

I really hope the Reds hang on to Alonso and move Votto to left field. Alonso/Bruce/Votto is championship-caliber 3-4-5 punch.

[HokieRed]

Agree completely on Alonso. He should be regarded untouchable.

[Kingspoint]

Agree completely about Alonso.

I keep thinking about the 3-4-5, though.

No one will put them left-left-left in order. It will have to be a 2-3-5 punch, with probably Bruce the #5 hitter. I personally don't care if three left-handers hit in a row. When you have two guys like Votto and Alonso who hit lefties or righties equally, it shouldn't matter.

[BRM]

I really hope the Reds hang on to Alonso and move Votto to left field. Alonso/Bruce/Votto is championship-caliber 3-4-5 punch.

You must be assuming Dusty won't be managing the Reds when Alonso arrives. There is no way he'd bat three lefties in a row like that.

[GIDP]

Bruce 1, Votto 3, Yonder 5

I dont know if Bruce will be as comfortable moving back to CF but he will just have to get used to it.

[HokieRed]

My own dream is that we'll see at least a year of Juan Duran and Yorman R. used to split up our three great lefties. I'm calling this BRM II. A couple of years of that will bring a lot of peace to us older RZers.

[LoganBuck]

My own dream is that we'll see at least a year of Juan Duran and Yorman R. used to split up our three great lefties. I'm calling this BRM II. A couple of years of that will bring a lot of peace to us older RZers.

So Juan Duran and Yorman R play where? Is baseball going to allow the Reds to use a rover?

[HokieRed]

We'll work that out later. I wasn't thinking about it as a concrete possibility.

[Homer Bailey]

Agree completely about Alonso.

I keep thinking about the 3-4-5, though.

No one will put them left-left-left in order. It will have to be a 2-3-5 punch, with probably Bruce the #5 hitter. I personally don't care if three left-handers hit in a row. When you have two guys like Votto and Alonso who hit lefties or righties equally, it shouldn't matter.

Alonso had a pretty poor college career against lefties.

[Grande Donkey]

Alonso had a pretty poor college career against lefties.

Got any stats on that? I always heard he was average to slightly above average against lefties in college.

[Homer Bailey]

Got any stats on that? I always heard he was average to slightly above average against lefties in college.

Not at the moment, but I remember reading on here that he hit .227 against them. That is, if I remember correctly.

[Homer Bailey]

.227/.410/.467 in what I believe to be his senior year. Pretty small sample size though, but dramatic splits from .441/.602/.924.

http://www.collegesplits.com/draft/alonsyo42-b.html

[camisadelgolf]

Alonso's lefty/righty splits in the minors:

Split	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	W	IW	HP	K	SH	SF	GDP	   	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	BABIP	   	GB%	LD%	FB%	IF/F
vs. LH	25	4	1	0	0	5	0	0	7	0	1	0		0.160	0.290	0.200	0.490	0.222		42.1%	21.1%	36.8%	18.2%
vs. RH	88	26	7	0	5	10	0	0	13	0	2	5		0.295	0.360	0.545	0.905	0.300		33.8%	26.0%	40.3%	13.7%

[Grande Donkey]

Not at the moment, but I remember reading on here that he hit .227 against them. That is, if I remember correctly.

Good memory right there... He had a .227 BA but had a .877 OPS. I guess that is what I was thinking of. Had a .410 OBP against lefties.

http://www.collegesplits.com/draft/alonsyo42-b.html

[OnBaseMachine]

Ben (Centerville, OH): What sticks out more about Reds top prospect Yonder Alonso in High A this year: That he is only hitting in the mid .200's (albeit with a very very low BABIP), or that he has a very high line drive rate and is driving in more than 1 rbi per game?

Ben Badler: His patience, his power, his balance at the plate and ability to hit to all fields is what stands out and should make him a high-OBP, power-hitting first baseman in the big leagues.

Josh (Indy): Where does Yonder Alonso fit when he gets to the majors? Do they move Votto to the outfield?

Ben Badler: If they keep both, I think Votto is more likely to move to the outfield.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/onlin...09/268070.html