Yonder Alonso Wins MiLB Stars Award
Sept. 7, 2011
Danbury, Conn. – Former Louisville Bats outfielder Yonder Alonso has been selected as a PERT Plus MiLB Star, according to fan voting announced Wednesday afternoon. The online voting was held to determine fans’ opinion of which Triple-A position player and pitcher has the brightest future. Julio Teheran was selected as the pitcher while Alonso earned the hitter award.
Alonso, a former University of Miami Hurricane and current member of the Cincinnati Reds, spent the majority of the 2011 season with the Louisville Bats. The Bats serve as the Triple-A affiliate of the Reds.
Born in Havana, Cuba, the 24-year old left fielder hit .296 in 91 games for the Bats before the Reds brought him up to the big league club at the end of July.
“It is an honor for me and my teammates,” Alonso said in the official release. They have made it possible for me to do well. I feel grateful for the fans noticing my contributions to the team day in and day out. I thank them for voting for me.”
“Yonder is a professional hitter,” said Rick Sweet, manager for the Louisville Bats. “We will hit in the major leagues just like he did at the minor league level. He hits for power, average and drives in runs. He is one of the best hitters that I’ve ever had.”
On the year with the Reds, Alonso is batting .382 with 21 hits, four homers and 12 RBI. He carries an on-base percentage of .452 and a slugging percentage of .673. Adding 30 games with the Reds in 2010 after being called up in early fall, Alonso holds a career batting average of .321 in the majors.
While at UMiami, Alonso was a 2008 Baseball America First Team All-America selection while finishing his Canes career batting .347 with 52 home runs and 215 RBI.
“The Pert Plus MiLB Stars awards recognize some of the game’s up and coming stars as chosen by the fans,” said Rod Meadows, Minor League Baseball’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “For the winners, an award of this kind represents taking another step closer to accomplishing their dream of playing in the major leagues. The collaboration between Minor League Baseball and Pert Plus in identifying these outstanding players is one we look forward to continuing for years to come.”
For more information on the University of Miami baseball team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. To follow the UM Baseball Team via twitter, please navigate to Twitter.com/CanesBaseball. You can also access the official UMiami Baseball blog at TheUBaseball.com.
Fans can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the Canes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
