DAYTONA BEACH — Ariel Almonte was always one of the tall kids, but that didn’t always translate to power.
When he started playing baseball at 8 years old, the right-handed Almonte naturally batted right-handed. It didn’t last long.
“I couldn't hit right-handed,” Almonte said via interpreter and Daytona Tortugas manager Julio Morillo, causing both to laugh. “So I thought, ‘Let's try it left-handed.’”
Fast forward 12 years, Almonte and his southpaw swing lead the Florida State League with 15 home runs. No other player has more than 12. He also sits second with 47 RBIs.
It’s a predictable surge for the 6-foot-4, 220-pound outfielder. The Cincinnati Reds signed him out of the Dominican Republic in January of 2021 for $1.85 million, the second-most of their international free agent group, and his power potential served as a big reason why.
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He swatted 11 home runs with a .281 batting average across 90 games in the Dominican Summer League and Arizona Complex League in 2021 and 2022. Morillo met the young slugger in Arizona.
In 2023, both moved up to Single-A Daytona — Morillo as manager and Almonte as his right fielder.
During his first season at a full season affiliate, Almonte experienced some growing pains. He finished with five dingers and a .203 average.
“I think last year I forgot about using my hands when I hit,” Almonte said. “So this year, I've been focusing on using my hands more and putting a good swing on the baseball. The main thing is not forgetting what initiates my swing is the hands.”
He added: “Basically, it's getting back to my roots and simplifying everything. I just want to be very simple at the plate.”
The change benefitted him immediately during his second go-round with the Tortugas.
Almonte needed only 62 plate appearances to match his home run total from last year, crushing his fifth on April 25. He already paced the league.
On May 10, he reached 10 long balls. That was more than three FSL teams at that point.
“I really don't pay attention to that,” Almonte said of his place on the leaderboard. “I'll see that at the end of the year. But my mentality right now is to go out there and just keep working hard because that's already done. I've hit 15 homers. That's already done. Today is a new day.”
Against Jupiter last week, he crushed two noteworthy home runs.
On Wednesday, he blasted the league’s longest shot of the season over the right-field wall at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. It traveled 460 feet. Then, on Friday, he hammered his 20th career bomb for the Tortugas, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to eclipse the mark.
There’s been only one hole in Almonte’s game: the strikeouts.
He ranks fifth in the FSL with 98 strikeouts in 71 games, and his average rests at .191.
“I think you can clean up a little bit on that,” Morillo said. “He's always going to be a power hitter, and the strikeouts are going to be there. It's just trying to minimize the strikeouts. That comes with experience ...
“The quality of contact this year is better. He's putting the ball in the air more, hitting more line drives.”
Morillo gets some entertainment out of Almonte’s power every day. The manager said Almonte is one of his favorite Tortugas to watch take batting practice, along with outfielder Yerlin Confidan and catcher Alfredo Duno, who is currently on the injured list.
“The last round of three, it was always fun to see those guys trying to leave the yard,” Morillo said.
In the middle of Tuesday’s session, Almonte unleashed violent swing after violent swing. On one, he fouled the ball off the netting above him and smiled, knowing he had just missed it. On the next pitch, he lifted a lazy popup down the left-field line. It looked medium depth.
And then, it just kept carrying. To the warning track, to the wall, to Daytona’s batting cage beyond the outfield fence.
It clanged off the roof.
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