Cleveland Indians: Yonder Alonso makes his presence known

The Cleveland Indians played their first spring training game Friday afternoon, and one new player is already making his presence known.

Some Indians fans are still upset that Carlos Santana is no longer going to be playing first base for the Tribe. They would have rather seen the team pay to keep Santana instead of signing Yonder Alonso. It appears Alonso was trying to change that mindset with his first swing of the spring.

I don’t think that ball has landed yet. Alonso absolutely blasted that baseball and there is going to be more of those to come.

Even though these games and that home run doesn’t technically count for anything, this is a sign of the talent and potential that Alonso can bring to this lineup. He may not be Carlos Santana, but Alonso is a quality player fans just got a taste of what he can bring to the team.

What else happened in the game?

Well, the Indians lost 6-4 to the Cincinnati Reds, but again, these games don’t count. Richie Shaffer knocked in two with a triple in the eighth and shortstop Eric Stamets went 2-for-2 with a home run in the sixth. That accounted for all of the Tribe’s scoring in this game.

It was great to see Rajai Davis back in a Cleveland Indians uniform once again, although he went 0-for-2.

On the mound, Mike Clevinger got the start and everything went well, same goes for Ryan Merritt who followed him. Dan Otero struggled, giving up a two run shot to Tucker Barnhart, and he ended up taking the loss.

Every pitcher used in the game threw only one inning. Non roster invitees Alexi Ogando and Preston Claiborne didn’t show out particularly well with Ogando walking two batters and Claiborne giving up two runs.

It’s only the first game of spring, but we’ve been waiting since October for some Indians baseball and it’s finally back. And so far, Yonder Alonso has given himself a warm introduction to Cleveland fans.

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The Tribe’s next spring game is tomorrow against the Arizona Diamondbacks.