Anthony Alford

Anthony Joseph Alford

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.
• School University of Southern Mississippi, University of Mississippi
• High School Petal High School
• Debut May 19, 2017

• Born July 20, 1994 in Columbia, MS USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Anthony Alford was a two-sports star in high school and the first person to ever be named Mississippi's Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball in the same year (2012). Football was his first passion and he accepted a scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi, becoming the team's quarterback as a freshman, a rare feat. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Mississippi, where he played safety. He had not completely written off baseball, as he had been drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 amateur draft by the Toronto Blue Jays and signed with them with the understanding that football was his first priority. The Blue Jays were willing to take that risk given Alford's outstanding athleticism and raw hitting talent that would make him an outstanding prospect if his football dreams did not pan out.

Alford played sparingly in his first few seasons in the Blue Jays' system, with 5 games with the GCL Blue Jays in 2012 and 6 games for the same team the following year. He got married in the summer of 2014 and decided to give up football in order to concentrate on his professional baseball career, since baseball offered a clearer path to financial security for himself and his family. He hit .259 in 14 games between the Class A Lansing Lugnuts and Rookie-level Bluefield Blue Jays that summer, then got to play high-level baseball in earnest for the first time in the fall when he joined the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League. He found the going a bit tough, hitting only .200 in 36 games, but did hit 4 doubles, a triple and 3 homers, and more impressively scored 33 runs, displaying some outstanding speed, even if his baseball reflexes were still quite raw.

Anthony took a big step forward in 2015 when he played 107 games split between Lansing in the Midwest League and the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League. He found his hitting stroke for the first time as a pro, hitting .298/.398/.421, showing a good batting eye. He hit 25 doubles and 7 triples but only 4 homers, although scouts were convinced that it was but a matter of time for his power stroke to jell. He was used as a leadoff hitter and was focusing on getting on base, not hitting long balls. Speed continued to be his strong suit, with 91 runs scored and 27 steals in 34 attempts. Given his production in spite of a lack of pro experience, and his very high ceiling, Baseball America proclaimed him the Blue Jays number one prospect after the season, and 25th overall in all of baseball. In 2016, he played 92 games for Dunedin, hitting .236 with 9 homers and 44 RBI. He scored 53 runs and stole 18 bases, and there was some disappointment that he had not really progressed from the previous year. Still, he was promoted to the Double A Eastern League to start 2017 and suddenly caught fire. With the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, he hit .325 with 18 runs scored in his first 33 games to put himself back on the prospect map.

On May 19, 2017, Anthony was called up to the majors straight from Double A as the Blue Jays had a number of outfielders unavailable: Steve Pearce had been injured a few days before, his replacement Darrell Ceciliani had gotten hurt in his first game after being called up to replace him, and Kevin Pillar was serving a two-game suspension for uttering a homophobic slur during an on-field altercation. Another top prospect, Dwight Smith, Jr., had already been called up from Triple A, which opened a spot for Alford to have a look. He made his debut against the Baltimore Orioles that day, starting in left field and going 0-for-2 with a strikeout before being pinch-hit for by Chris Coghlan in the 7th. On May 23rd, he collected his first career hit in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, a pinch-hit double off Rob Scahill in the 7th, but a couple of innings later, he fractured a bone in his left wrist when he fouled off a Neftali Feliz pitch. He was placed on the disabled list after the game. He did not play in the majors again that season. He ended up playing 68 games in Double A, hitting .310, and .333 in 3 games with the Buffalo Bisons, in addition to a rehabilitation assignment back with Dunedin.

In 2018, he pulled a hamstring in spring training and had to start the season on the disabled list, then went to Dunedin for 6 games to work himself back into shape. After hitting just .154 in 10 games for Buffalo, he was called up to Toronto on May 5th, the team deciding not to wait for him to find his stroke to call him up, as they were dealing with a slew of injuries to their outfielders which had already prompted them to call up Dwight Smith Jr. and Dalton Pompey. He went 2 for 14 in 7 games before being sent back down on May 13th. In all, he hit .105 in 13 games for Toronto, and .240 in 105 games for Buffalo, with 5 homers and 34 RBI. He was one of the final cuts by the Blue Jays in spring training in 2019, but when the Jays decided to trade designated hitter Kendrys Morales on the eve of Opening Day, they announced Alford would take his roster spot. Anthony had just enough time to express his joy on social media before the Jays changed their minds and announced that instead, they would call up Rowdy Tellez, while Alford headed back to Buffalo. He did not stay long, as he was called up on April 2nd, the day the Jays traded long-time centerfielder Kevin Pillar, and he started in his place against the Baltimore Orioles. He went 0 for 3 that day, then on April 4th was sent back to Buffalo to make room for newly-acquired outfielder Socrates Brito. He did not return until September, spending the year in Triple A. On September 23rd, his first career homer was a walk-off homer off Ryan Eades in the 15th inning that gave the Blue Jays an 11-10 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

He is a cousin of P Demarcus Evans and brother-in-law of Jonathan Davis.

“Everybody says he has probably made more strides in one season than most guys they’ve ever seen. He’s got a ton of talent, he really does. He’s a great athlete, but he was a football player, so he needed to play baseball. Once they started throwing him out there every day, it started happening.” - Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, speaking of Alford in spring training, 2016

Further Reading

• Ted Berg: "Ex-NCAA safety Anthony Alford adjusts to life as the Blue Jays' top prospect", "For the Win!", USA Today Sports, February 24, 2016. [1]
• Mike Rosenbaum: "What to expect from Blue Jays' Alford in big leagues", mlb.com, May 5, 2018. [2]

Related Sites

• Anthony Alford on mlb.com
• BR Minors page