"Yonder, as in "off we go into the wild blue . . .," would seemingly be the perfect name for a slugger.

But when new Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso speaks of hitting, he doesn't talk in terms of home runs.

"I am not thinking 40 or 50 home runs when I'm thinking about hitting," Alonso said earlier this week at Petco Park.

"A lot of left-handed hitters and first basemen are thinking home runs," Alonso continued. "That's not the type of left-handed hitter I am.

"When I look at Petco Park, I don't see how far away the fences are. I see a lot of grass. I feel like this ballpark likes the kind of hitter I am.""