Alessandre Blandino (born November 6, 1992) is a

Nicaraguan American A Nicaraguan American ( es, nicaragüense-americano, ''nicaragüense-estadounidense'', or ) is an American of Nicaraguan descent. They are also referred to as "nica" or "nicoya". The Nicaraguan American population at the 2010 Census was 348,202 ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

who is currently a free agent. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

and was drafted by the Reds in the first round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He has played for the

Nicaragua national baseball team The Nicaragua national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Nicaragua'') is the national baseball team of Nicaragua. Considered the best in Central America along with Panama, it represents Nicaragua in international tournaments. Nic ...

Amateur career

Blandino was drafted by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

in the 38th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

out of St. Francis High School in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

. He did not sign and attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He played

for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

from 2012 to 2014, hitting .292/.372/.504 with 27

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in 157 games. After his freshman and sophomore seasons, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox The Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox, or Y-D Red Sox, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Red Sox play thei ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, batting .323 in 2012 and .319 in 2013, and in both seasons was named the starting

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for the East Division All-Star team.

Professional career

Cincinnati Reds

The

selected Blandino in the first round of the

. He signed and was assigned to the

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Dehler ...

, and after batting .309 with four home runs, 16 RBIs, and a .939 OPS in 29 games, was promoted to the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. In 2 ...

, where he finished the season, batting .261 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in 34 games. In 2015, he played for both the

Daytona Tortugas The Daytona Tortugas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and play their home games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in 191 ...

and the

Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are based in Pensacola, Florida, and play their home games at Admiral Fetterman Field. In 2012, the team rel ...

, 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 The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

, 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 The Nicaragua national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Nicaragua'') is the national baseball team of Nicaragua. Considered the best in Central America along with Panama, it represents Nicaragua in international tournaments. Nic ...

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 The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Jacob Barnes Jacob Andrew Barnes (born April 14, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, New ...

. 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. In 2019 for Cincinnati, Blandino appeared in 23 contests, slashing .250/.420/.361 with 1 home run and 3 RBI, and did not appear in a major league game in the 2020 season, spending the season at the alternate training site. He pitched again for Cincinnati on April 28, 2021 in the bottom of the 8th inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers, retiring the one batter he faced on a flyout. The Reds had previously given up 6 runs in the inning, putting them behind 8-0 when Blandino appeared to close out the inning. On July 17, Blandino was placed on the 60-day injured list with a fractured right hand. He was activated off of the injured list in mid-August and optioned to Triple-A Louisville. Blandino was outrighted off of the 40-man roster on November 4. He elected free agency on November 8.

San Francisco Giants

On December 10, 2021, Blandino signed a minor league contract with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Seattle Mariners

On May 14, 2022, Blandino was traded by the Giants to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

in exchange for

Stuart Fairchild Stuart Alexander Fairchild (born March 17, 1996) is a Taiwanese-American professional baseball outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Wake Forest University. Fairchild was drafted by the ...

. He was released on August 1, 2022. On January 31, 2023, he announced that he would be representing

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

in the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...

International career

Born in the United States, Blandino is of Nicaraguan descent through his father. He played for the

at the

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blandino, Alex 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California Baseball players from California Major League Baseball infielders Cincinnati Reds players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Billings Mustangs players Dayton Dragons players Daytona Tortugas players Pensacola Blue Wahoos players Peoria Javelinas players Louisville Bats players Sacramento River Cats players Tacoma Rainiers players American people of Nicaraguan descent 2023 World Baseball Classic players