Blaze Alexander made the Diamondbacks Opening Day roster after an impressive spring, making the team over Kevin Newman and Jordan Lawlar as the backup shortstop. After Geraldo Perdomo went down with a knee injury, they turned to Alexander to fill the void at shortstop. He struggled with the glove, which cost the Diamondbacks a couple of wins. Newman stepped up at the position and started to eat into Alexander’s playing time.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“The beginning of the year, I had a couple mishaps on defense,” said Alexander on the television broadcast following an 8-5 win over the San Francisco Giants. “It’s just slow the game down, do what we do every day, what we practice.”
With his glove taking him off the field, Alexander worked hard with Tony Perezchica on his defense. The lack of consistent at-bats started to affect his batting line, hitting .139 between April 21 and May 15. At that point, he seemed like the obvious candidate to be sent down to Reno when Perdomo came off the injured list. However, a recent hot stretch at the plate plus more confidence defensively has now made that a tough decision. He made an impressive diving stop against the Giants on Monday, robbing Patrick Bailey of a single. With excellent athleticism, range, and a throwing arm that’s earned top-of-the-scale grades, he has all the physical tools to be a great defensive infielder in the future.
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“I’m a good defender,” said Alexander. “I wouldn’t be up here if I wasn’t.”
Two points in Alexander’s favor are his ability to hit left-handed pitching and his ability to play multiple infield defensive positions, both of which ensure a roster spot on most major league clubs. He’s batting .368 with two home runs and a .990 OPS when facing lefties in 2024, ensuring he starts against left-handed pitching. He has work to do in order to improve his results against right-handed pitching if he wants to develop into an everyday player. Additionally, he gives them coverage at second base and third base for when they want to take Ketel Marte or Eugenio Suárez off the field.
He’s also shown a very good approach at the plate, using the center of the diamond and the opposite field to do much of his damage. It’s an approach that lends well against teams that overplay him to his pull field or up the middle with their infield. In his last seven starts, he’s 12-for-28 (.429) at the plate and earning more playing time. He is more of an offensive-minded utility player at the current stage of his career who can play second base, third base, and shortstop. It’s possible he will develop into an everyday player at one of those positions, but his versatility is more important to the team this season.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
