Alfonsin Rosario — New Kid Off The Trade Block

The Guardians may have stolen a hidden gem from the Cubs’ farm over the winter

In the young season, Guardians fans have been treated to a very hot start from both their major league ball club and the farm system. More specifically, a lot of potential household names within the team’s farm are having good starts and making strides in their development.

A few new faces, however, have also made great impressions within the team’s affiliates. Will Wilson, a minor league rule 5 draft pick from the San Francisco Giants, has been raking in AAA Columbus and was just called up to the major league club.

But the one guy who is demanding a lot of attention right now is outfielder Alfonsin Rosario, who has been displaying light tower power in Lake County early this year.

Rosario, 20, was acquired by the Guardians in a trade with the Chicago Cubs for longtime Cleveland reliever Eli Morgan. As for Rosario, he was drafted in the 6th round of the 2023 draft. He started his career off on a bad step, as he scuffled greatly in low A during his first full year in the minors.

That prompted the Cubbies to try and test the market with him and see if they could bolster their pen. They found Morgan as a viable fit, as he posted the best stats of his career after coming back from an elbow injury halfway through the season.

As for the Guards, they saw incredible power potential in Rosario, and they think that he can hold some great value if he develops some better contact skills as he ages.

So far, he’s been doing just that.

The righty masher has been a pulled fly ball machine since the start of the season, doing it at a rate he hasn’t ever done before in his career.

His swing at times looks identical to Fernando Tatis Jr., and when he gets ahold of one he sends the ball to the moon.

Funnily enough, Rosario has even had a decently similar career path to Tatis. Fernando was initially a part of the other ball club in Chicago, the White Sox. And early in his career (actually before he even donned a MiL uniform for the Sox) he got traded to the Padres for starting pitcher James Shields, as the Sox hoped to strengthen up their staff.

So maybe, just maybe, do the Guards have their own rendition of one of the best righty sluggers in the league?

That’s of course yet to be found out, but it’s fun to think about the possibilities that Cleveland could have this secret weapon in their arsenal. Even Baseball America has him on their radar, as they listed Rosario as one of their 9 preseason hidden gems in the minor leagues.

But career paths, speculation and narratives aside, I would like to get back to his performance so far this year. Alfonsin is walking less than he did in low A, but he is also K’ing a whole lot less in Lake County. He’s seen approximately a 13% drop from his 32% K rate in the 2024 season.

Alfonsin has been hitting fly balls very frequently, and even hits line drives at an impressive clip as well. He’s mostly a pull hitter, but can also go back up the middle quite a bit as well.

These stats have left a very positive impact on his overall slash line of .327/.386/.635 in this young season. He is on pace to double his previous home run total of 16 from last year as well.

All of this has been very encouraging for the young guy. I’ve been really entertained by him so far. Whenever he hits a home run, it’s not just a wall-scraper. It is a total moonshot that leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind that the ball is leaving the park.

I would love nothing more than to see Alfonsin become one of those guys who just blossoms in a new setting and becomes a superstar hitter for their new team.