Alfonso Rivas III #36

Originally selected by the Oakland Athletics in the fourth round of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft...Graduated from La Jolla Country Day, the same high school which produced Cardinals infielder Tommy Edman...Was a two-time All-CIF First Team selection and a two-time All-Coastal League First Team selection...Played college baseball at the University of Arizona and was on the Wildcats 2016 College World Series squad as a freshman, finished runner-up to Coastal Carolina...Was teammates with current Major Leaguers Bobby Dalbec, Cesar Salazer and Kevin Ginkel on the 2016 Wildcats...Batted .323 with 15 HR and 141 RBI over his three-year career at Arizona...Was a First Team All-Pac 12 selection as a sophomore in 2017 and Second Team selection in 2018...Played for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League during the 2017 summer. Was teammates with Kyle Isbel, Nico Hoerner and Kris Bubic on the Y-D Red Sox...His sister, Sandra, played soccer as a goalkeeper at San Diego Christian College...Resides in Austin, Texas.

2023

Signed with the Padres as a minor league free agent and was assigned to El Paso (AAA) to begin the season...Made his first Major League appearance with San Diego on June 3, against his former club the Cubs...Was traded to the Pirates in a five-player deal on Aug. 1 along with RHP Jackson Wolf and Minor League OF Estuar Suero in exchange for LHP Rich Hill and INF Ji-Man Choi...Collected a season-high five RBI (3-for-5, double), matching his career-high for the third time in his career...Helped the Pirates rally to a 13-12 comeback win at CIN (9/23), after trailing 9-0 after three innings...Was one of 10 players to record five or more RBI without hitting a home run in a game in 2023...Finished the season batting .348 (8-23, HR, seven RBI) over his final eight games with a .957 OPS.

2022

Made the Cubs Opening Day roster and was optioned to Triple-A Iowa four times throughout the season....Made 92 appearances (73 starts) at first base for the Cubs, committing just one error in 642 total chances across 646.1 innings at first...also made two appearances in left field and one in right field....For the big league club, batted .235 (59-for-251) in 101 games with five doubles, two triples, three home runs, 27 runs scored and 25 RBI....Collected a ML career-high three hits with one HR on April 23 vs. PIT in CHC's 21-0 route of PIT...his five RBI tied a career high, as he collected five RBI nearly two months later, this time at PIT on June 22....Hit safely in a season and career-high 8 consecutive games with the Cubs from July 26-Aug. 31....Went hitless in his final six games and 11 plate appearances from Sept. 29-Oct. 5....Had 87 SO vs. 29 BB...among all NL hitters who had at least 280 plate appearances, his 3.30 plate appearances per strikeout ratio was the 11th-fewest....57 of his 59 hits came vs. right-handed pitching (.257 AVG), as the lefty hit just .069 (2-for-29) vs. left-handers....With no runners on, he hit .215 (32-for-149)...with runners on, he hit .265 (27-for-102), including a .283 clip (17-for-60) with RISP....On first-pitch at-bats that got put in play, hit .619 (13-for-21)....In his 26 games for Iowa, he hit .298 (28-for-94) with six doubles, one triple, one home run and 10 RBI.

2021

In 2021, Alfonso made his major league debut with the Cubs ... was selected from Triple-A Iowa on Aug. 28 and played 18 games before he finished the season on the 10-day I.L. with a right middle finger tendon injury... Made his major league debut Aug. 29 at the White Sox, going 2-for-3 with a double ... recorded his first hit, a single, off Dylan Cease... Was 4-for-6 as a pinch-hitter and hit safely in 11 of his final 13 games, including a season-ending seven-game hitting streak (12-for-31/.387)... Hit his first career home run, Sept. 14 in Philadelphia off Kyle Gibson... Hit .284 (56-for-197) with 13 doubles, four homers and 32 RBI in 58 games for Iowa.

2020

Did not play due to the COVID-19 pandemic postponing the minor league season.

2019

Spent a majority of the season with Single-A Stockton, hitting .283 (122-for-431) with 60 runs, 24 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 55 RBI and 66 walks … posted a .383 OBP and was named a midseason California League All-Star...Played eight games with Triple-A Las Vegas at the end of the regular season, hitting safely in all eight contests … batted .406 (13-for-32) with two doubles, a triple, a homer and five RBI … had a 1.066 OPS.

2018

In his first pro season, Alfonso hit .285 (61-for-214) with 16 doubles, one triple, one home run and 28 RBI in 61 games for Single-A Vermont … stole seven bases.