Oakland Athletics first baseman Yonder Alonso has never been regarded as much of a power hitter for good reason, as he hasn’t reached double-digit home runs in any of his first seven big league seasons. That’s about to change. Alonso told reporters this spring, including FanGraphs’ Eno Sarris, that he had adjusted his swing to hit more fly balls. Fantasy owners didn’t take much notice of Alonso hitting .389 with four home runs in spring games because everyone probably thought they knew who Alonso, at 30 years old, was.
Well, the new Alonso, with his fly ball rate hovering around 50 percent and still drawing walks, homered twice Saturday and again on Sunday.