Paging Yonder Alonso...

[fearofpopvol1]

An honest question...would Alonso be better than a Lewis/Heisey platoon when one factors in both offense and defense? And before someone points out that Heisey has hit better off of RHP, let's not forget that Heisey has only logged half of a season's worth of PAs and that the sample size is still small.

[cinreds21]

Yonder made a great throw from left tonight to throw out the runner at home.

[lollipopcurve]

Yonder made a great throw from left tonight to throw out the runner at home.

Good to hear. Was it on a base hit or a fly ball?

[GoReds]

Yonder made a great throw from left tonight to throw out the runner at home.

What sort of arm does Yonder have in left? I'm expecting he doesn't have a cannon, but is at least respectable and accurate?

[flyer85]

IMO, its all about upside potential. Alonso has that and Frazier really doesn't. Frazier may turn out to be solid but Alonso could be a stud. Bring him up and play him and if he has success then he becomes a huge trading chip.

At a minimum is there anyone that thinks a Lewis/Gomes platoon would be better than Alonso/Heisey?

[IslandRed]

At a minimum is there anyone that thinks a Lewis/Gomes platoon would be better than Alonso/Heisey?

I don't.

Now that the lefty-hitting Fred Lewis is healthy and playing, though, I think it's really his performance level and not Gomes' that's going to determine what level of urgency the Reds feel for moving Alonso up.

[Benihana]

IMO, its all about upside potential. Alonso has that and Frazier really doesn't. Frazier may turn out to be solid but Alonso could be a stud. Bring him up and play him and if he has success then he becomes a huge trading chip.

This.

If he doesn't have huge success in LF, you know he is a 1B for sure and you can market him accordingly (ahem, Dodgers and D-backs).

Frazier's upside is Mark DeRosa. While valuable, that's not a game changer. Alonso could be a game changer. The only way to find out is to give him a chance, and this weekend seems like the perfect opportunity.

[Puffy]

Leave him down there and let him keep raking. And learning left field. He's trade bait for a potential ace anyway.

I'm looking at you Mariners and King Felix.......

[buckeyenut]

Leave him down there and let him keep raking. And learning left field. He's trade bait for a potential ace anyway.

I'm looking at you Mariners and King Felix.......

Wouldnt that be awesome? Volquez, Leake, Alonso, Hamilton and ? For Felix?

[reds44]

This is what I got out of Kevin Goldstein.

Kevin_Goldstein

He can be below average but adequate there. RT @nburzych: @Kevin_Goldstein think Alonso has any shot of being a major league LFer?

[757690]

This is what I got out of Kevin Goldstein.

Kevin_Goldstein

He can be below average but adequate there. RT @nburzych: @Kevin_Goldstein think Alonso has any shot of being a major league LFer?

Thanks.

Was he talking overall or just defensively.

[GOYA]

I'd like to hear who else he describes as "adequate" in LF. Yonder is painfully slow and has poor instincts for routes. How is that adequate?

But hopefully, Goldstein is upping his trade value.

[cumberlandreds]

Jockety was on Reds Live last night and was asked about Alonso in LF. He said he was well pleased with what he has heard about him LF. Of course he's not going to be critical of him either in that spot as to not devalue a potential trade. I may have been reading to much between the lines but I got the impression that they may be seriously thinking about bringing him up to go to LF.

[dougdirt]

I'd like to hear who else he describes as "adequate" in LF. Yonder is painfully slow and has poor instincts for routes. How is that adequate?

Seen Gomes, Soriano or a handful of others play left field? Yonder fits in with those types of guys. Given that those guys all have starting MLB gigs, at the very least I assume it is adequate enough to keep playing them there.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Seen Gomes, Soriano or a handful of others play left field? Yonder fits in with those types of guys. Given that those guys all have starting MLB gigs, at the very least I assume it is adequate enough to keep playing them there.

I've seen Gomes play a lot of games in left. Never seen Alonso play. But most people I've heard that have compared the two say Gomes is actually much-better defensively than Alonso. Are you disagreeing with this? Or are you saying Alonso has the potential to be as "good" as Gomes (as below average) after a few years of experience/working on playing out there?