Alessandre Blandino (born November 6, 1992 in Palo Alto, CA) is an infielder for the Cincinnati Reds organization. He hit .511 as a senior in high school and was 4-1 with a 2.18 ERA as a pitcher. He set a school record with 18 career homers and was named Player of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports and the San Jose Mercury News.

Alex was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 38th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft out of St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California. He did not sign and attended Stanford University. He played college baseball for Stanford from 2012 to 2014. He was then drafted by the Reds in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft.

Blandino made his major league debut with the Reds on April 10, 2018, and hit his first major league home run on May 1, 2018 off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Barnes. On July 11, 2018 he appeared as a pitcher in the 8th inning of a blowout loss against the Cleveland Indians. He struck out two of the four batters he faced, including one with knuckle ball that drew high praise on the broadcast and social media.

Alex tore his ACL on July 20, 2018, and as a result would miss the rest of the season when he injured his knee in a collision with Max Moroff of the Pittsburgh Pirates who was attempting to break up a double play. He saw limited action in 2019, batting .250 with a .420 OBP in 50 plate appearances and 23 games, and he did not play MLB ball in 2020. He made the Red's team in 2021 and started strong.

Alex is on Twitter @ablandino10.

(excerpted from Baseball Almanac, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)