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    Alfredo Duno (Photo: Aldrin Capulong/Daytona Tortugas)
    Photo: Aldrin Capulong/Daytona Tortugas

    Cincinnati Reds #4 Prospect: Alfredo Duno – Catcher

    Doug Gray 31

    After not spending any time behind the plate in his professional debut in 2023 with the Dominican Summer League Reds because of some arm issues, a healthy Alfredo Duno donned the catchers gear for Daytona in 2024. But just like in 2023, he didn’t get a ton of playing time – but this past season it was for a different reason.

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    After serving as the designated hitter for the Dominican Summer League Reds in 2023, the Cincinnati Reds pushed Alfredo Duno all the way to Single-A Daytona in 2024 – skipping him over the Arizona Complex League.

    That felt like a big jump for an 18-year-old, but at the plate, Duno seemed comfortable. He got on base in each of the first four games before going 0-4 against Palm Beach on April 12th. He picked things right back up after that. From the 19th through the 24th he would go on a tear, going 7-for15 with a double, triple, and two home runs.

    Duno would go hitless on April 28th, which turned out to be his final game of the month and then start out May by going 0-6 in a doubleheader as he had a little bit of a slump. It didn’t last as two says later he went 1-3 with a walk and hit .298 over the next three weeks. But his final game of the season came on May 24th when he went 1-3 with a run scored against Fort Myers. The catcher would land on the injured list with a broken rib and he would spend the rest of the season recovering from the injury.

    For all 2024 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).

    Alfredo Duno Scouting Report

    Position: Catcher | B/T: R/R

    Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 210 lbs. | Acquired: International FA (2023) | Born: January 7, 2006

    In both of his professional seasons Alfredo Duno has dealt with an injury that has limited what he’s been able to do. In 2023 he was unable to play defense, so he only spent time in the batters box. Last year he was healthy to begin the year and showed off some of what he can do as a defender, but his season was cut short by three-and-a-half months with his rib injury.

    At the plate, Alfredo Duno stands out for his age when it comes to approach and power. While he did strike out plenty in his 139 plate appearances (28.8%), he had a solid understanding of the strikezone. When it comes to power he has potential plus power and he’s already capable of showing the power off in games despite being just 18-years-old.

    Behind the plate we were able to get our first real look at him as a professional. With the Statcast tracking metrics available in all of the Florida State League except in Daytona, we were able to get limited numbers on Duno. He had eight throws to second base tracked, with six of the pop times being above-average or better.

    The sample size is incredibly small, but he averaged 84.2 MPH on those throws to second base. That would have ranked 4th best among big league catchers. His pop time averaged 1.96, which would have rated 34th among the 83 catchers on the Statcast leaderboards – and still in the above-average range. But what this suggests is that there’s likely room for improvement in his pop time.

    When it comes to his receiving – he’s still working on plenty of things. That’s just how it’s going to be with just about every teenage catcher who has ever lived. That said, he’s athletic behind the plate and shows the potential to be a quality big league receiver.

    Cincinnati was aggressive with their promotion to Single-A with Duno to begin 2024. While he did get some playing time with Daytona, he had just 21 games behind the plate. I would expect him to return to the Florida State League again for 2025 to get another time or three around the league, but maybe he’ll show enough in spring training to get the Leo Balcazar promotion up to Dayton despite an injury costing him much of the year prior.

    The upside is huge for Alfredo Duno. He’s got a chance to be a 30-home run type of catcher who can more than hold his own defensively. That’s a rare caliber of player. He’s still far from being the guy – he won’t even turn 19 for another six weeks – but you can dream on that for a long time.

    Stats

    Spray Chart

    Video

    Interesting Stat on Alfredo Duno

    In his 11 games as the designated hitter in 2024 he hit just .135. In his games where he was the team’s catcher he hit .329.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    31 Responses

    2. I like Duno, he has worlds of potential, but he’s had significant injuries in his only two years as a pro already. Significant enough that he didn’t catch at all in 2023 and then missed the majority of 2024. That alone makes me wary of having him this high. Very high ceiling, but the greatest ability is availability.

      1. Hope he doesn’t have a case of the Senzels.

        He is sure a stocky kid for someone so young. Believe he will have o be cocerned with his weight as years go by.

      2. I still want to know how he broke a rib last season. I was watching the game and he pulled up running to first base. Looked almost like a leg injury. When it was announced he fractured a rib, i was wondering if he swung so hard he broke it.

        One thing that completely impressed me on defense was how good his hands are. Really soft. I remember watching Mesoraco (in particular) and Stephenson thinking their hands were limited. Big arm.

        1. Thanks Dave. Good to know from someone who has watched him in-person. Did he look bigger than the 6’2″ 210lbs he is listed at?

        2. Definitely. But it’s been said the cameras at Daytona aren’t flattering (I believe Sal Stewart’s mom said that). I will say, he has a massive frame, big through the hips. Seeing him and Almonte back to back in a lineup was impressive. Made Confidan look small.

        4. Yeah I can remember watching Mesoraco and thinking he had a better chance of being a basketball backboard than a big league catcher, as so many balls hit his glove and bounced off.

    3. I see shades of Salvador Perez with the body type and hitting ability. If Duno can put up a solid season where he doesn’t get hurt and moves up a couple levels, 2026 could be the season where it makes sense to make him the #2 catcher…..ease him into the big leagues.

    4. It’s surprising they skipped a level because catchers normally get promoted at glacial speeds. A mostly healthy season in Daytona would be a nice step in 2025.

    5. how does Duno compare to Ethan Salas from a developments standpoint and future value standpoint?

      1. Think it’s more a question of how do the Padres differ from the Reds. SD has been highly aggressive with Salas and where he’s been assigned (High A last season as a teenager, essentially skipping Lo A ). And Salas struggled quite a bit. Then, again, with being assigned to the AFL.

        I felt Duno was fine at Daytona in 2024 and, while i’d have liked to see him stick with the core group there moving up to Dayton this coming year, I believe it’s best to assign him to Lo A again. He should understand why and can be encouraged to get his reps in in order to rejoin his teammates

      2. Tough for me to really say because my job isn’t to cover the Padres, so my information on Salas is far more limited than it is on Duno.

        That said, everyone has Salas ranked much higher than Duno (who is ranked in top 100’s, so he’s certainly well liked). Reading a few reports, it seems the belief is that he’s a better defender, with the potential to be gold glove caliber back there. And his hitting, while not impressive yet, still is graded out to be very good down the line.

        1. Thanks Doug. I’m assuming he would be in the 15-20 rankings of catchers compared to the MLB top 10 catching prospects list.

      3. Saw Salas a lot last year and was expecting something special. Occasionally you would see a throw or block that was fantastic but most of the time nothing impressive.

    6. Has anyone seen anything on high end 2025 international signings We’ve had a good run, and I hope it continues.

      1. Baseball America had something a week or two ago. Reds only had one guy expected to sign with them among the top 30.

      2. I heard from somewhere that we are supposedly lined up to sign MLB Pipeline #49 international prospect Enry Torres, a catcher out of Venezuela who is supposed to be a pretty good hitter and a solid athlete.

      1. This is not the high le el of the last few years. I hope they develope.

        Thanks for the update.

    8. From the Duno/Salas comments above, it sounds like they’re opposites for development. All seem to agree Salas is already an excellent MLB defensive/backup C and his hitting will catch up, so advance him as fast as his hitting allows.

      With Duno, still comparatively highly ranked, but neither the hitting nor defense are certainties, though very projectable. The injuries are the biggest problem since they don’t give much experience to project. I wonder if they’ll limit his catching time like they did in the DSL, to see if they can get a full season of hitting to evaluate? If the hitting is excellent, that could get him on the 26-man faster than the normal long-development for catchers, though he’d be learning the defensive side on the job as a backup-C/DH/PH for a few years.

      Keep him healthy.

      2. Not sure you can count on a guy at the big-league level that had to be babied to get there. Catchers at High A are typically catching 3 to 4 games a week. Cant see them changing that approach with Duno. When Stephenson was in Dayton,(Low A then) he missed significant time two years in a row (thumb surgery one season, concussion the other), buy when he returned it was four days a week.

        1. Sink or swin, if you’re going to have to move him off catcher, better to find out sooner rather than later.

        2. I was thinking it may be worthwhile to see if he’s an MLB quality hitter at other than catcher. He’s still young enough they can fall back to Plan B and have him catch if necessary. Have to believe he’s already a better catcher, than, say, Schwarber; and don’t believe not catching for a few months is a setback at his age.

      3. As Doug noted, he didn’t catch at all last year due to a shoulder injury. So, he’s already had one year where he exclusively focused on hitting. Nothing in this scouting report indicates he’s not a viable catching prospect. The Reds should stay the course.

        1. i don’t think Optimist is advocating anything different from any of our primary discussion above. Myself, i’m
          Just really enthused with this kid. He could be special.

          Also. There have been more than isolated large bodied catchers who’ve done well, including our own Tyler Stephenson. But, add in Matt Wieters, Joe Mauer, Salvador Perez, Jorge Posada, Jason Veritek and, further back, Fisk and Piazza. It happens.

          I understand it’s more body type vs. height, and the possibility of thickening trunk and legs. He is a b-i-g kid. But he’s also an athlete. He has a big arm, really soft hands, decent catch and throw already, hits missiles, and understands the strike zone. Prospective all star catchers are a huge asset.

        2. Except he hasn’t had one year focused exclusively on hitting – it’s a bunch of “onlys” – Only 77 games in 2 seasons, only 21 games catching in Daytona, and he’s only going into his age 19 season. It’s small sample sizes all around and my point is that he’s still young enough that time doesn’t matter, like, say, Dunn or Hurtubise. Rather than risk him getting beat up catching, let him hit for a few months to confirm that status as a prospect, and then get him back behind the plate.

          If the “soft hands” credit is accurate, see if he’s good at 1b/3b/DH for, say 250 ABs, and then back behind the plate. Just avoid another season lost to injury.

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