Reds' 19-year-old 'beast' delivers 3-HR game in Fall League playoffs

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Three homers. 1,290 feet. It might have taken longer than expected, but the Alfredo Duno Show arrived in the Arizona Fall League just in time.

The Reds' No. 2 prospect crushed three roundtrippers during Peoria's 9-4 win over Scottsdale in the AFL Semifinal Game at Salt River Fields on Thursday night.

"This is a day that I'm gonna remember for the rest of my life," said Duno via interpreter Julio Morillo, who also serves as Peoria's manager. "Unbelievable feeling right now."

The first long ball (102.5 mph) came in the game's opening frame, a three-run shot that staked Peoria to a lead it wouldn't relinquish. The second tater (107.6 mph), in the fifth, was officially the longest of Duno's career at 453 feet, traveling toward the back of the cacti-laden batter's eye; he wasted no time superseding that mark in the ninth (109.1 mph), demolishing a 456-foot no-doubter to put a cherry on top of his six-RBI performance.

"I knew as soon as I hit those balls, it was hit hard and far," said Duno. "But yeah, I think those are the longest two homers that I've hit in my career."

Forget the distance, Duno wasn't hitting any homers during the Fall League regular season. It was a veritable power outage for MLB's No. 48 prospect across 15 games in which he hit .213 with a .654 OPS. But through all of that, he stayed committed to the process and made the necessary adjustments; he crushed a two-run homer in Peoria's opening-round playoff win Wednesday, setting the stage for his breakout.

The three-homer, six-RBI night marks the first such performance during AFL playoff action since at least 2005. For Duno, while not official, it is his third multihomer outing as a pro, while the six RBIs tie his best from the Dominican Summer League in June 2023.

"19 years old and you got a beast like that," Reds right-hander Johnathan Harmon, who tossed 3 1/3 innings during Peoria's win, said of Duno. "He comes to work every day, grinds, and to see that from a 19-year-old? Man, it's special.

"He's a special guy."

Duno, at just 19 years old, is the fourth youngest hitter in the 2025 Fall League. He's coming off a first full professional season that saw him mash a Single-A Florida State League-leading 18 homers and finish fifth among Minor League full-season qualifiers with a 164 wRC+.

But for as exhilarating of an offensive profile as Duno has, the Fall League has also been an opportunity for him to grow behind the dish. Even after nearly 700 innings in the squat during the regular season for Daytona, Duno has strapped on the catcher's gear deep into November. After making nine errors and allowing 13 passed balls (albeit in a much larger sample size) with the Tortugas, Duno has been rock solid for the Javelinas with one error and zero passed balls.

As Scottsdale was mounting a late flurry, Duno made one of the game's headiest plays, forgoing an attempt to nab the lead runner and instead throwing out the trail runner attempting to steal second.

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Reds No. 5 prospect Rhett Lowder (MLB No. 80), who already has six Major League starts under his belt, got to work with Duno for the first time earlier this fall and was complimentary of how preternaturally gifted he was behind the dish.

"He was awesome," Lowder said of Duno in October. "He was very responsive to everything I had to say, and it seemed like he took great mental notes of anything that I like to do, and then he gave some feedback."

Harmon, a 25-year-old who spent the entirety of his year with High-A Dayton, got to know Duno while they rehabbed together at the club's complex in Goodyear, Ariz., last season. But Thursday was the first time they officially linked up as batterymates.

"I actually shook him and threw a changeup 0-2 and [Duno] called a sinker and the guy got a hit off me," said Harmon. "I come in the dugout and I go, 'I'm never shaking you off again, dude. That's on me.' … He takes pride in catching. He's a really good player."

"I think the biggest part of the game is not only hitting, it's being able to be back there and catch and handle the pitching staff," said Duno. "I'm focused on that too -- showing that I can hit, but I can also catch."