Alex Blandino


Alessandre Blandino is an American professional baseball infielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. He played college baseball at Stanford and was drafted by the Reds in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft.

Amateur career

Blandino was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 38th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft out of St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California. He did not sign and attended Stanford University. He played college baseball for the Stanford Cardinal from 2012 to 2014, hitting.292/.372/.504 with 27 home runs in 157 games. After his freshman and sophomore seasons, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League, batting.323 in 2012 and.319 in 2013, and in both seasons was named the starting third baseman for the East Division All-Star team.

Professional career

The Cincinnati Reds selected Blandino in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He signed and was assigned to the Billings Mustangs, and after batting.309 with four home runs, 16 RBIs, and a.939 OPS in 29 games, was promoted to the Dayton Dragons, where he finished the season, batting.261 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in 34 games. In 2015, he played for both Dayton and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, posting a combined.278 batting average with ten home runs and 53 RBIs, and 2016 with Pensacola, batting.232 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs. Blandino spent 2017 with Pensacola and the Louisville Bats, slashing a combined.265/.382/.453 with 12 home runs and 51 RBIs in 125 total games between both teams. Blandino played for the Nicaraguan national baseball team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifier. The Reds added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season.
Blandino made his major league debut with the Reds on April 10, 2018, and hit his first major league home run on May 1, 2018 off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Barnes. Perhaps his most noteworthy accomplishment with the Reds came July 11, 2018 when he appeared in the 8th inning of a blowout loss against the Cleveland Indians. He struck out two of the four batters he faced, including one with knuckle ball that drew high praise on the broadcast and social media. Blandino eventually tore his ACL on July 20, 2018, and as a result would miss the rest of the season.