6 years agoThe former Reds prospect was long considered a bust and an afterthought in the fantasy community, but a 2017 breakout saw Alonso post career highs in home runs, OPS, and ISO, and Alonso quickly became a shining example of what a flyball-heavy approach can do for a player. Things didn’t come crashing down in 2018; Alonso still hit 23 homers and drove in 83 runs, but his .738 OPS and .171 ISO were large drops from the previous season. What went wrong? Alonso’s HR/FB ratio fell from 19.4% to 14.5%, his average launch angle fell from 19.4 degrees to 15.6 degrees, and his groundball rate rose from 33.9% to 38.3%. He didn’t regress all the way back to uselessness, but his drop in production shows the fragility in launch angle revolution players. Pitchers have adapted to this style of hitting by pitching up in the zone, and we saw several of 2017 surprise players like Alonso, Justin Smoak, and Logan Morrison regress because of it. The move to Chicago’s south side should be good for him. Guaranteed Rate Field is the best hitters’ park Alonso has played in save for his 127 PAs as a Red, he’ll hit cleanup behind Jose Abreu, and the White Sox don’t have anyone to challenge him for playing time at first base. Alonso should be useful as a corner infielder in 2019, but expect numbers closer to his 2018 season than his 2017 season.--Elliott Baas - RotoBaller