News
Top Reds prospects heading to AFL
Alonso, Heisey among six Cincinnati players in Peoria
Former first-round Draft pick Yonder Alonso entered Tuesday batting .280 with 46 RBIs. (AP)
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
08/25/09 7:44 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- Two of the Reds' top prospects will be among the organization's six players that participate in the 2009 Arizona Fall League. Rosters were revealed on Tuesday. Double-A Carolina first baseman Yonder Alonso and Triple-A outfielder Chris Heisey will play for the Peoria Saguaros, along with Louisville pitchers Sean Watson and Logan Ondrusek, Carolina pitcher Phillipe Valiquette and Carolina shortstop Zack Cozart. The Saguaros will be skippered by first-year Carolina manager David Bell. The 18th annual Arizona Fall League season begins on Oct. 13 and runs through Nov. 19, with the Rising Stars game on Nov. 7 and the Championship game set for Nov. 21. Every game can be followed live on Gameday on MLB.com and MLBFallBall.com. For Alonso, it will be a chance to make up for lost at-bats. Cincinnati's first-round Draft choice in 2008 (seventh overall) was activated Monday from the disabled list after he suffered a broken hamate bone in his right hand June 18. In 71 games combined at Carolina, Class A Sarasota and in the Gulf Coast League, the 22-year-old Alonso entered Tuesday batting .280 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs. A 17th-round Draft pick in 2006, Heisey has risen fast and has really taken off this season. The 24-year-old is batting .314 with 20 home runs and 67 RBIs in 123 games combined at Carolina and Louisville. In July, he played for the U.S. squad at the All-Star Futures Game in St. Louis.Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
