The Diamondbacks have recalled infielder Blaze Alexander from Triple-A Reno. Going the other way in a corresponding move is outfielder Alek Thomas, who has been optioned to Reno. Prior to the official announcement, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic was among those to relay on X that Alexander was in the clubhouse while Thomas’s locker was being cleared out.
Thomas, 24, gets sent to the minors for the first time in over a year, as he was last optioned in May of 2023. As of a few years ago, he was considered one of the top prospects in baseball based on his potential ability to be an all-around contributor. While he has shown some speed and some strong defense at times, he has been consistently subpar at the plate.
From his 2022 debut to the present, Thomas has now stepped to the plate 915 times at the major league level. He has 20 home runs in that time but his 5.2% walk rate is a few ticks below average and his overall batting line of .226/.271/.359 translates to a wRC+ of 71, indicating he’s been 29% worse than league average overall. That includes a .191/.248/.362 line and 67 wRC+ here in 2024.
Thomas has some encouraging signs on his Statcast page in terms of how hard he hits the ball, so it might seem like bad luck that he has a .261 batting average on balls in play, which is well below par. However, he’s also continually struggled to get underneath the ball, with a 57.2% ground ball rate in his career and a 60% rate here in 2024.
In previous seasons, Thomas has made up for his lack of offense by providing value in center field, but that hasn’t been the case this year. He came into 2024 with 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 11 Outs Above Average in the outfield but both of those metrics have put a mark of -1 on him this year. Perhaps he hasn’t been fully healthy, as he spent some time on the injured list due to a left hamstring strain and his sprint speed of 27.9 feet per second is down from previous years. He was at 29.3 in 2022 and 28.8 last year.
Whether his health has played a factor or not, he’s essentially been a replacement level player this year and Jake McCarthy has forced his way into more playing time. McCarthy is hitting .311/.380/.458 this year for a wRC+ of 135 while stealing 17 bases and and getting solid marks for his outfield work. Those all-around contributions have led FanGraphs to credit him with 2.7 wins above replacement on the year already.
The Snakes have an outfield mix that consists of McCarthy, Corbin Carroll and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with Joc Pederson in the designated hitter slot most days. Randal Grichuk is often Pederson’s short-side DH platoon partner and is also capable of serving as a fourth outfielder. McCarthy has played all three outfield positions but could perhaps become the regular in center now while Thomas gets regular at-bats in Reno and tries to get in a groove down there.
He is still quite young and still has time to find himself at the plate but the Diamondbacks are trying to win now and need to put their best club on the field. They are currently 68-53 and tied with the Padres for the top National League Wild Card spot. Both clubs are also just 3.5 games behind the Dodgers in the West division.
Speaking of platoons, subbing in Alexander could help the club in that regard. Each of Thomas, Carroll, McCarthy and Pederson are lefties and all of them have notable platoon splits except for McCarthy, who has reverse splits. Alexander hits right-handed could perhaps cover third base against southpaws while Eugenio Suárez, also a righty, moves into the DH slot, allowing Grichuk to move to the outfield and perhaps shield Carroll from time to time. When Christian Walker returns from the IL and takes over at first base, the switch-hitting Josh Bell could be a factor as well. Alexander will also give the club a bit of extra cover at second while Ketel Marte is banged up with a left ankle injury.
Turning back to Thomas, the move has the potential to impact his earning power. He came into this season with one year and 132 days of service time. If he had stayed up in the majors all year, he would have gone into the offseason at 2.132 and with a very good chance at qualifying for arbitration as a Super Two player, based on past cutoffs. This year’s cutoff won’t be determined until the end of the year but each day he stays down in the minors will decrease his chances of crossing it. If he falls short of the line, he will get the usual three arbitration seasons, while getting to Super Two status would have given him a fourth chance at a salary bump.
Maybe IL for Ketel
Was thinking the same thing when I started reading that they brought Alexander back up. Maybe 10-day IL, just to let the ankle heal, if it is a bruise. Just don’t want to hear that it’s a high ankle sprain they do take longer to heal.
Aug. 13: 2B Ketel Marte day to day with low-grade ankle sprain.
I know but I think that move is for insurance. Ketel needs rest and if there is a time it’s now when we are playing well and have a little breathing room.
If they sent Ketel to IL, they wouldn’t need to send anybody to Reno.
Yeah, Ketel chips are unhealthy, Snakes have been saved by the Bell.
Ah man, I’m addicted to those. Love the Dill Pickle Krinkle Kut.
Oh, Alek, will you ever be the highly touted prospect? You’ve still got plenty of time!
That NLCS home run will always give me chills. (P.S. Thanks for the Error in Game 5 of the World Series. From a Rangers fan.)
It’s time to get Alek Thomas to the Chicago White Sox where he belongs! Still remember him in high school at Chicago Mt. Carmel. His dad isn’t coaching in the White Sox organization anymore, but with the White Sox is where this kid belongs.
What would the Sox send back for Thomas? Luis Robert? The outfield is fine, Garrett crochet? Starting pitching is fine
I can’t see a diamondbacks wsox trade
I could easily see that in the off-season. AZ needs a RH OF. Thomas is obviously not as good, but he still has some promise, plus one more year of control.
AZ would have to throw in another pretty decent prospect, but the balance is there.
Arizona doesn’t have enough for Luis Robert.
Sure, if Jordan Lawlar is the headliner and Alek Thomas is the 2nd or 3rd piece.
Alek Thomas as a headliner? You’re smoking crack.
I was at that game for my bachelor party with 7 other guys. Best night of my life.
NLCS or World Series?
zack novotny:
Doesn’t say much good about your wedding night, does it…?
Wedding night is symbolic of no more strange. Bachelor parry is symbolic of celebrating with just your boys. They aren’t comparable.
Thomas was just not hitting, seem like lately you could write in 4-3 in the scorebook, he hit a lot of groundballs. McCarthy is playing like he did two years ago. It was only going to be a matter of time, Thomas has the glove, but the bat is another story it’s just not there, how long do you wait?
Thankful that the WSOX took Dominic Fletcher instead of McCarthy in the trade that the D’Backs got Cristian Mena (SP).
You may be thankful again if WSox trade Robert this offseason. Barfield might call to take Thomas off your hands since he is from the area and was in its youth academy. They like the local kids who can’t hit thing with Lopez/Solak, etc.
Who knows maybe an offseason deal with Thomas part of a package for Crochet.
I thought the very same thing yesterday: happy the White Sox took Fletcher instead of McCarthy.
Also, wasn’t Toronto, in the Moreno trade, given the choice of any one Arizona outfielder at the time, either McCarthy, Fletcher, Varsho, or Thomas??
My recollection is that the Blue Jay’s had their choice of McCarthy or Varsho. Idk about Fletcher, but I believe Thomas was off limits.
I got a lot of grief for being a McCarthy fan, back when people were saying to trade him. Now I’m sitting here with a big fat smile on my face.
One of those I told you so posters eh?
Muted.
Well….bye.
With the Dbacks in win now mode, I believe Montgomery should be the odd man out when they go to a 5-man rotation. Nelson has outpitched Montgomery this season and has earned a rotation spot based on performance, not salaries. Torrey said Nelson will be the long man today if Montgomery struggles and therefore would not start on Friday.
I heard Lovello say he is going with Montgomery for now is that Nelson does have experience coming out of the bullpen, where Montgomery does not. I don’t think Montgomery though is on a long lease. I agree totally with you about Nelson, this could be a short stay in the BP, I say go with a 6-man rotation if need be. Plus, Gallen’s health has me concern a little, his next start will also be watched closely.
Ita the right move. Montgomery has the upside of being great. He started late and had so many injuries. Nelson is used to back and forth. We are paying jordan so he should be there.
We are also paying MadBum.. Should he still be there? Save the 5 Mil (2.5mil@ 18 and another 2.5mil @ 23 starts) in escalators with games started by sending him to the pen as the long man. Try again next year, since there is no way with how well he has pitched he will opt out of the 20 million pillow he landed on. He can serve as insurance with experience if there is any injury or health concerns. Almost like a 5 million insurance policy.
Lol @ Alexander at 3b over Suarez….
I don’t think that part is worded as well as it could have been, but that part isn’t suggesting that Alexander should be played over Suarez at 3B.
It’s suggesting that Blaze at 3B enables the ability to platoon Carroll/Grichuk and Pederson/Suarez. Which won’t necessarily be the case at all times, because the DBacks are quite fond of getting guys semi-regular rest days.
Is Thomas maybe the next Victor Robles? Both where highly touted prospects who have decent ability to make contact but walks are on the low side and at least for Robles power never materialized (except for juiced ball 2019).
So far in his career Robles is sporting a 5% walk rare, 19% k rate and .133 ISO. Robles is a bit higher on walks at 6% but also slightly worse at k rate (22%) and ISO (120).
Barrel rate is slightly higher for thomas at just under 5% vs 4 for robles but thomas has a higher chase rate.
I still think overall thomas is slightly better but can he be more than a 260/320/400 hitter?
If Thomas ever hits .260 he will start 140 games a year because of his defense.
Not even a DBACKS fan, but Alek Thomas seems like the kind of guy who somehow turns it on in the playoffs based on last years playoff/WS run. I’d keep him around if I were the DBACKS. Unrelated, I dig the Josh Bell pickup.