2012 Report Card: First Base
Yonder Alonso – Photo by SD Dirk
After one season of inconsistency at 1B, the Padres handed the job over to rookie Yonder Alonso (acquired in the Mat Latos trade). New Padres general manager decided that Alonso was a better option that the current top prospect, Anthony Rizzo and although most “experts” felt the two were both very good, Alonso was projected to play better in Petco National Park.
This was a down year for 1B in the NL, Votto and Howard were hurt most of the season, Pujols and Fielder went to the AL, and Adrian Gonzalez came to the west late. Power production as whole was down, but plenty of young 1B are developing such as Freeman, Davis, Goldschmidt, Belt, Rizzo, and Alonso. The power production most expected from Alonso never materialized. Although Yonder was a doubles machine, people look to 1B as a source of power and run production. In his first full season Alonso only hit nine homeruns (HR every 61 at-bats) and drove in only 62 RBI (hit .239 with RISP). This has got to improve in 2013.
As previously mentioned, Alonso was a doubles machine. I’m not going to compare him to other rookies, because he’s playing first base. The value of players such as Cozart, Rosario, and Frazier are higher because of the fact they play at more demanding defensive positions. In comparison to other first baseman Alonso held his own.
Runs – 7th
Hits – 2nd
Doubles – 3rd
HR – T9th
RBI – 6th
BB – 4th
AVG – 2nd among qualifiers
OBP – 3rd among qualifiers
TB – 5th
Alonso hit .270 or higher four of the six months and improved his average after the all-star break going from .263 to .285. Great indications that the 25-year old will be able to build on these numbers in 2013.
Grade: B-
Yonder Alonso
| Year | Age | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 25 | 155 | 619 | 549 | 47 | 150 | 39 | 0 | 9 | 62 | 3 | 62 | 101 | .273 | .348 | .393 | .741 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2012.
| Name | Team | G | PA | H | HR | R | RBI | SB | BABIP | AVG | OBP | SLG | WAR |
| Joey Votto | Reds | 111 | 475 | 126 | 14 | 59 | 56 | 5 | 0.404 | 0.337 | 0.474 | 0.567 | 6 |
| Adam LaRoche | Nationals | 154 | 647 | 155 | 33 | 76 | 100 | 1 | 0.298 | 0.271 | 0.343 | 0.51 | 3.7 |
| Paul Goldschmidt | Dbacks | 145 | 587 | 147 | 20 | 82 | 82 | 18 | 0.34 | 0.286 | 0.359 | 0.49 | 3.7 |
| Allen Craig | Cardinals | 119 | 514 | 144 | 22 | 76 | 92 | 2 | 0.334 | 0.307 | 0.354 | 0.522 | 3.1 |
| Corey Hart | Brewers | 149 | 622 | 152 | 30 | 91 | 83 | 5 | 0.318 | 0.27 | 0.334 | 0.507 | 3.1 |
| Todd Frazier | Reds | 128 | 465 | 115 | 19 | 55 | 67 | 3 | 0.316 | 0.273 | 0.331 | 0.498 | 2.9 |
| Yonder Alonso | Padres | 155 | 619 | 150 | 9 | 47 | 62 | 3 | 0.318 | 0.273 | 0.348 | 0.393 | 2.1 |
| Garrett Jones | Pirates | 145 | 515 | 130 | 27 | 68 | 86 | 2 | 0.293 | 0.274 | 0.317 | 0.516 | 1.9 |
| Freddie Freeman | Braves | 147 | 620 | 140 | 23 | 91 | 94 | 2 | 0.295 | 0.259 | 0.34 | 0.456 | 1.9 |
| Anthony Rizzo | Cubs | 87 | 368 | 96 | 15 | 44 | 48 | 3 | 0.31 | 0.285 | 0.342 | 0.463 | 1.7 |
| Brandon Belt | Giants | 145 | 472 | 113 | 7 | 47 | 56 | 12 | 0.351 | 0.275 | 0.36 | 0.421 | 1.7 |
| Ike Davis | Mets | 156 | 584 | 118 | 32 | 66 | 90 | 0 | 0.246 | 0.227 | 0.308 | 0.462 | 1.6 |
Photo by: SD Dirk, creative commons 2.0
