How Diamondbacks' Young Infielder Has Grown Up

Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Blaze Alexander had opportunity thrust upon him this season.

Following a Deadline trade that sent All-Star third baseman Eugenio Suárez to the Seattle Mariners, Alexander became the everyday D-backs' third baseman without much of audition period.

Related Content: How Diamondbacks' Blaze Alexander Earned his Major Opportunity

In fact, his resume was anything but strong for a defensive position like third. Alexander was known as an instinctual, but not necessarily reliable or fundamentally sound defender, despite having one of the better arms in baseball.

But since taking over full time, Alexander has looked like a completely different player. His footwork and arm accuracy are notably improved, his instincts are still plus, and he's found a home in the high-range hot corner.

He's been worth +2 Fielding Run Value and +3 Outs Above Average per Statcast, and +5 Defensive Runs Saved per Baseball reference.

Manager Torey Lovullo explained how Alexander was able to do it:

Arizona Diamondbacks' Blaze Alexander Growing Into Reliable Defender

"I think he was a little bit out of control, tooled up [initially]," Lovullo said.

"Maybe just a little bit hyperactive with all of his instincts and his willingness and eagerness to go out and prove himself."

The manager said it's not so much about Alexander's overall composure, but rather how he's able to ramp up the intensity at the right times and keep that energy in the right amount of control.

"We always talk about slowing the game down for a player, and I think young players need to learn how to do that," Lovullo said.

"Once they get into that comfortable sweet spot, it's not that they're overly-relaxed and feeling unorthodox, it's that they know how to react and know how to turn on the gears and ramp things up at the right time."

"It's like going to class as a freshman in college. You write down everything the professor says. By your senior year, you're only picking out some key words and you just know what you're doing, and you engage at the right time," Lovullo continued.

Alexander's maturation process has included those types of assessments. He's taking a more intentional approach, both defensively and on offense.

"I think that's really what's going on with Blaze at this point. He knows how to kind of reassess where he's at, turn the clock on and off, and when it's time to go, it's all go, all in, all go.

"I think overall that's more of the emotional impact... He's surveying balls and strikes. He's patient at the plate. He's squaring up the balls defensively.

"He's just doing a lot of things fundamentally sound, and he's been taught very well, and he's trusted the information that he's been getting from some of the coaches over the past couple years," Lovullo said.

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