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. Before the official announcement, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic was among those who relayed 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 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 regarding 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 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 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 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 can also serve 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 relatively young and has time to find himself at the plate, but the Diamondbacks are trying to win now and must put their best club on the field. They are 68-53, 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 have notable platoon splits except for McCarthy, who has reverse splits. Alexander hits right-handed and could cover third base against southpaws. At the same time, Eugenio Suárez, also a righty, moves into the DH slot, allowing Grichuk to move to the outfield and possibly 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 also be a factor. 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 could impact his earning power. He entered 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, with an excellent 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.