Reds want Yonder Alonso to slim down

The Reds are hoping for a slimmer, trimmer, faster Yonder Alonso in 2012.

“That’s the plan right now,” Alonso said. “It’s going to be an offseason where I’m going to do a lot of things differently. I hired a chef. That’s going to help me out.”

“I’m going to get faster. My offseason workout regiment is going to be very different. A lot more running. It’s going to be a left fielder-type attitude coming into the offseason. I’m very excited. We’ll go from there.”

The Reds did the same thing Jonny Gomes. He went from 240 to 223 in his two offseasons with the Reds.

“Jonny did get better. Jonny got a whole lot better,” Dusty Baker said. “When Jonny got here, he was predominantly a DH. Jonny lost weight. Jonny got more mobile and he became a pretty good outfielder. That’s the same thing we’ve discussed with Alonso.

Alonso is 6-foot-2, 241 pounds.

“He’s never going to be built like (Drew) Stubbs,” Baker said. “But he can slim down and work on his footwork.”

The Reds haven’t put a number on what they want Alonso to get down to.

“No, you don’t put a number on it,” Baker said. “Then guys lose their strength. One year we had Fernando (Valenzuela) lose a lot of weight. He wasn’t nothing. . . There were times during season where we were trying to fatten Fernando up.”

Speed is obviously an advantage for an outfielder, but there are good outfielder who are not burners.

“The main thing to work on in quickness,” Baker said. “(Alonso’s) never going to be speedy. You work on your quickly, work on routes, work following the bat path so you get better jumps. It’s also knowing the pitchers and as well as the hitters.”


(cincinnati.com)