Coming off a season that saw him win the Florida State League’s MVP Award, Alfredo Duno is struggling to start the season with High-A.
Adjusting to the Next Level
This season, the 20-year-old is playing in his first season with the High-A Dayton Dragons, and it hasn’t begun the way he was expected to. In 20 games, he is slashing .203/.364/.304 with five extra-base hits. What has me optimistic is his ability to draw walks, even when the hits are not falling.
Duno has drawn a walk in 12 of his 20 games played. He has drawn two or more walks in four games and has drawn three walks once. He recorded a hit in six of his first seven games of the season. Through April 12, he was slashing .320/.500/.560 with four extra-base hits, including his first home run at the High-A level. Post April 14, Duno is just 6-44 with one extra-base hit.
His ability to get on base is a major key that can help him break out of this slump. Eventually, the hits will start to fall in his favor.
Reds Number One Prospect
2025 was Duno’s first full season as a professional. He was limited to a designated hitter role in 2023; he dealt with an elbow injury. He skipped the Arizona Complex League and reported straight to affiliate ball with the Single-A Daytona Tortugas in 2024. He played in just 32 games after a broken rib cut his season short. He slashed .267/.367/.422 with three home runs and 11 total extra-base hits. He played another season with Daytona in 2025, and that is where he put it all together. He led the league in nearly every offensive category, including home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage.
After the season, the Reds had him play in the Arizona Fall League. In the semi-final game, Duno hit three home runs to help put the team in the finals. Reds’ Double-A pitcher Johnathan Harmon was pitching during that game and shared a story with us about that day.
“I pitched that game” Harmon said. “Duno was catching. That was the first time Duno’s caught me in a game in my whole career and his whole career. Just the way he was behind the plate, like, the pitch calling, I knew right off the bat he was locked in. Like, I knew it, he was on a different level that night, though, man. I’ve never seen anything like it, but he was on a different level. That was special to watch.”
Duno is one of the more impressive prospects in all of minor league baseball. He is currently the 33rd-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline. Playing with the Dayton Dragons, this is the first time he has played north of Florida or Arizona. Just one month into the season, I’m not worried about the start to his season.
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