By Josh Cook
The Louisville Bats have been on fire recently, and Yonder Alonso has been the fire starter.
Alonso, the Bats' first baseman, has been named the International League Batter of the Week for Louisville, which is in the midst of a 10-game win streak.
From July 26-Aug. 1 - when the Bats won six straight games - Alonso led the IL in batting average (.480), hits (12) and slugging percentage (.960). He was also second in the league in on-base percentage (.552) and doubles (four). He also tied for third in home runs two).
The 23-year-old Alonso, who is in his third season of professional baseball out of the University Miami (Fla.), is one of the Cincinnati Reds' top prospects.
This season, through 74 games with the Bats and 31 games with Double-A Carolina, Alonso is batting .281 with 12 home runs, 26 doubles and 55 runs batted in. He is hitting .286 with nine homers and 42 RBIs with the Bats.
Alonso, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound native of Havana, Cuba, is hitting .351 with four doubles, three home runs and seven RBIs during Louisville's 10-game winning streak.
The former No. 7 overall draft pick in 2008 hit .366 in July and is hitting .359 after the All-Star break.
Alonso is the fourth Bats to win an IL weekly award this season. Juan Francisco (May 3-9) and Luis Terrero (May 10-16) were batters of the week, while Sam LeCure (May 17-23) was the Pitcher of the Week.
In other Bats news on Monday, reliever Russ Springer, who the Reds recently signed, was called up by the parent club. To make room for Springer, the Reds optioned relief pitcher Carlos Fisher back to the Bats.
The Bats will go for 11 in a row at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night at IL West-leading Columbus, which leads Louisville by 6 1/2 games, in the third game of a split four-game series. LeCure (6-2, 2.96 earned run average) is slated to start for Louisville.
Photo courtesy Louisville Bats
