Alfonso Rivas III (born September 13, 1996) is a Mexican-American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

organization. He made his MLB debut in 2021.

Amateur career

Rivas was born on the side of the road along Interstate 805 and raised in Tijuana before moving to

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

when he was in the fourth grade. Rivas attended La Jolla Country Day School in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

, graduating in 2015. He enrolled at the University of Arizona where he played college baseball. In 2016 he batted .247/.329/.332. In 2017, as a sophomore, he played in 58 games and batted .371 with seven home runs, 64 RBIs, and 54 runs. He played in 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 ...

for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox that summer. As a junior in 2018, Rivas appeared in 56 games in which he hit .347 with seven home runs and 52 RBIs. Following the season's end, he was selected 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 fourth round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

Professional career

Oakland Athletics organization

Rivas signed with Oakland and made his professional debut with the Vermont Lake Monsters of the Class A Short Season New York–Penn League, with whom he hit .285 with one home run, 28 RBIs, and 16 doubles over 61 games. To begin the 2019 season, he was assigned to the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Ba ...

of the Class A-Advanced

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

(with whom he was named an All-Star) before being promoted to the Las Vegas Aviators of the Class AAA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

in late August. Over 122 games between the two clubs, he slashed .292/.387/.423 with nine home runs, sixty RBIs, and 26 doubles.

Chicago Cubs

On January 13, 2020, Rivas was traded to the

in exchange for Tony Kemp. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He was assigned to the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

of the Triple-A East to begin the 2021 season. He missed nearly all of May and a majority of June due to injury. On August 28, 2021, the Cubs selected Rivas' contract and promoted him to the major leagues. At the time of his promotion, he was slashing .284/.405/.411 with four home runs, 32 RBIs, and 13 doubles over 58 games with Iowa. He made his MLB debut the next day starting at first base versus the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field, collecting two hits in three at-bats as the Cubs lost 13-1. On September 14, he hit his first MLB home run against Kyle Gibson of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. On September 21, he was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

with a finger injury, thus ending his first MLB season prematurely; over 44

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s with the Cubs, Rivas batted .318 with one home run and three RBIs. In 2022 with the Cubs he batted .235/.322/.307. He was designated for assignment on December 23, 2022.

References

External links

Arizona Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivas, Alfonso 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California Baseball players from California American baseball players of Mexican descent Major League Baseball first basemen Chicago Cubs players Arizona Wildcats baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Vermont Lake Monsters players Stockton Ports players Las Vegas Aviators players Mesa Solar Sox players Iowa Cubs players