RR Community Prospect Rankings: Yonder Alonso, power hitter?

Yonder Alonso is your RR CPR #2 Prospect. After narrowly being edged on the first place ballot, Yonder ran away with the 2nd place rank, getting almost 50% of the vote. A lot is being made of his hamate injury, with the belief being that it's an injury known to sap a player's power stroke for about a year. This may have even lost him the #1 spot on our rankings. I'm here to tell you to simmer down, kids.

After coming back from his injury in August, Yonder did suffer at the plate, slugging a lowly .238 in August and hitting just .214. However, he bounced back in a big way in September in Carolina and Louisville, putting up a .381/.447/.667/1.114 line in 42 AB. 8 of his 16 hits in September went for extra bases. Now there's no way he's sustaining that, but it was certainly a good sign.

He finished the season strong, and has had a solid winter ball season. He put up a solid line in the AFL (.267/.353/.395/.748), and although he's struggled at times in the Puerto Rican League, he's still hitting and getting on base at a pretty good clip so far this winter. Is his power back to where it was before the injury? Not yet. But he's still being productive, which may be good enough to get him to the majors this year, and by the end of the year, his power should be completely back.

Another great sign? jch24 said in the thread that he suffered the same injury, and we all know he never lost his "power stroke".

Now that we have the top 2 decided, we vote for the third player on the list. Returning are all of the old candidates, with two new faces on the ballot, breakout SS prospect Zack Cozart and Venezuelan wunderkind Yorman Rodriguez. Vote!

Mike Leake, RHSP:

Baseball America rank: 3
2009 RR CPR rank: NR
Age: 22
Draft/Acquisition Details: 1st round (pick 8), Reds, 2009
Highest Level Played: NCAA (Arizona State), AFL (Peoria)

2009 Statistics:
Arizona State (NCAA): 18 GS, 16-1, 1.71 ERA, 142 IP, 162 K, 24 BB, 0.84 WHIP
Peoria (AFL): 5 GS, 1-2, 1.37 ERA, 19.2 IP, 15 K, 3 BB, 1.17 WHIP

Chris Heisey, OF:

Baseball America rank: 4
2009 RR CPR rank: NR
Age: 25
Draft/Acquisition Details: 17th round (pick 504), Reds, 2006
Highest Level Played: AAA (Louisville)

2009 Statistics:
Carolina (AA): 71 G, 271 AB, 13 HR, 40 RBI, 13 SB, .347/.426/.572/.998
Louisville (AAA): 63 G, 245 AB, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 8 SB, .278/.323/.465/.788
Peoria (AFL): 24 G, 91 AB, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 5 SB, .297/.379/.593/.972

Juan Francisco, 3B/LF:

Baseball America rank: 5
2009 RR CPR rank: 6
Age: 23
Draft/Acquisition Details: Signed in 2004 out of Dominican Republic
Highest Level Played: MLB (Cincinnati)

2009 Statistics:
Carolina (AA): 109 G, 437 AB, 22 HR, 74 RBI, 6 SB, .281/.317/.501/.818
Louisville (AAA): 22 G, 92 AB, 5 HR, 19 RBI, 0 SB, .359/.384/.598/.982
Cincinnati (MLB): 14 G, 21 AB, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 0 SB, .429/.520/.619/1.139
Cibao (DWL): 46 G, 182 AB, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 0 SB, .302/.352/.566/.918

Travis Wood, LHSP:

Baseball America rank: 7
2009 RR CPR rank: NR
Age: 23
Draft/Acquisition Details: 2nd Round (pick 60), Reds, 2005

Highest Level Played: AAA (Louisville)

2009 Statistics:
Carolina (AA): 19 GS, 9-3, 1.21 ERA, 119 IP, 103 K, 37 BB, .97 WHIP
Louisville (AAA): 8 GS, 4-2, 3.14 ERA, 48.2 IP, 32 K, 16 BB, 1.21 WHIP

Zachary Cozart, SS:

Baseball America rank: 10
2009 RR CPR rank: NR
Age: 24
Draft/Acquisition Details: 2nd round (pick 79), Reds, 2007
Highest Level Played: AA (Carolina)

2009 Statistics:
Carolina (AA): 131 G, 462 AB, 10 HR, 59 RBI, 10 SB, .262/.360/.398/.758
Peoria (AFL): 13 G, 50 AB, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 SB, .340/.393/.560/.953

Yorman Rodriguez, CF:

Baseball America rank: 6
2009 RR CPR rank: 13
Age: 17
Draft/Acquisition Details: Signed in 2008 out of Venezuela
Highest Level Played: Rookie (Billings)

2009 Statistics:
GCL Reds (Rookie): 21 G, 82 AB, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 5 SB, .280/.348/.329/.677
Billings (Rookie): 46 G, 183 AB, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 5 SB, .219/.259/.344/.603