The Yankees’ trade deadline brought more than one fresh face into the organization, and Omar Alonzo is the kind of addition fans will immediately pull for.
The 22-year-old catcher came over from the Pirates in the deal for Camilo Doval, and his baseball résumé is only part of the story. Alonzo, a native Venezuelan and Pittsburgh’s No. 14 prospect in MLB Pipeline rankings, is tied to a baseball family with both past and present big-league catchers. But what makes his story hit harder is what he has endured away from the field.
On June 24, deadly earthquakes in Venezuela took the lives of his mother, Patricia de Alonzo, 50, and his teenaged sister, Eliana Alonzo, 16. The two were last seen alive at a hotel in La Guaira that was destroyed in the quake. Their bodies were recovered on July 5.
That date carried another painful coincidence for the family: it was the same day Eliezer Alonzo Jr., 26, made his major league debut, starting at catcher for the Dodgers.
The Alonzo name already has a place in the game. Eliezer Alonzo Sr., Omar’s father, played five seasons in the majors as a catcher, hitting .240 over 193 games with the Giants from 2006-08, the Padres in 2009, the Mariners in 2010 and the Rockies in 2011.
After his mother and sister were reported missing on June 24, Omar Alonzo stepped away from baseball and took a leave of absence that lasted until July 31. He had agreed to speak publicly about the tragedy on Aug. 12, but that Curve news conference was canceled because of the trade.
On the field, Alonzo has hit .238 with nine homers and 35 RBI in 62 games, including 60 with Altoona and one apiece in rehab games at the rookie level and Low-A.
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