Beltran supports Alonso

HOUSTON — Yonder Alonso’s April numbers have scouts sitting up and taking note of the pending free agent, and one man who gets some credit for Alonso’s offensive turnaround plays for the Astros.

“He’s doing great,” said Houston outfielder Carlos Beltran, who has known Alonso as an opponent since he was with the Padres. “Yonder is a super-talented player, sometimes very hard on himself for failing, but in this game, you’re going to fail.

“That’s always my fight with him, I tell him, ‘Man, you have to understand, in this game, it’s hard to be perfect.’ But he’s really put in the work, really put in the effort. He’s focusing on details and he’s been consistent. I’m so happy he’s having success.”

Alonso hit four homers in the first month and his 14 RBIs are second most on the team. He didn’t hit those marks until July last year.

“It’s hard for a young player to know what kind of hitter he is and work on his strengths,” Beltran said. “Sometimes guys work too hard on their weakness and not on their strengths . ... A guy like Yonder — he’s a freaking big man. I weigh 213 and he weighs 235; he’s a huge man. You expect he’ll drive the ball more, and he understands that now and I think he will do it.”

Alonso sends Beltran videos of his at-bats and Beltran studies them and provides advice.

“I send him huge long texts sometimes to tell him to keep doing a good job,” Beltran said. “Anytime someone approaches me and asks for help, I take it personally and try to give them information they can use and have success. I want Yonder to have positive results and a long career.” Manaea move: The A’s will have plenty of starters available this week, so they went the prudent route and placed lefthander Sean Manaea on the 10-day disabled list. He came out of his outing Wednesday after two innings because of shoulder tightness, and, though he has felt better each day, with right-hander Sonny Gray coming off the DL on Tuesday, the A’s can handle things just fine until Manaea is eligible to return next Sunday.

Gray will take Manaea’s roster spot Tuesday.