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Jun 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pinch hitter Blaze Alexander (9) hits a two RBI single against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Diamondbacks Call Up Strong Armed Infielder from Triple-A

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Jack Sommers | Last updated Jun 25, 2025 12:08 PM ET

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a roster move Wednesday morning in response to the injury to Ildemaro Vargas. Blaze Alexander was called up from Triple-A Reno and has joined the club in Chicago ahead of their game against the White Sox Wednesday morning.

Vargas suffered a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot and was placed on the 10-day injured list. Eugenio Suarez is day-to-day with a right hand contusion from a hit-by-pitch. He is scheduled to get an MRI in the upcoming days as the swelling reduces.

His status going forward remains uncertain. Jordan Lawlar was not an option to be called up as he's nursing a sore hamstring and has not played since June 19.

Alexander, now 26 years old, is getting his first call-up in 2025. Originally thought to have a chance to make the opening day roster, he suffered an oblique injury in Spring Training, delaying the start to his season. That delayed him until the end of spring, and he began the year with the Reno Aces, where he's been ever since.

Alexander is a famously upbeat person with an infectious personality. That was on display the moment he walked into the Diamondbacks clubhouse Wednesday morning

Blaze Alexander has an infectious positivity that is going to be a perfect fit in this clubhouse. Everyone loves this guy, and they need some positive vibes right now. https://t.co/0YTiBQV1h2
— Steve Zinsmeister (@Steve_Zins) June 25, 2025

Alexander made opening day roster out of camp in 2024, showing off the best arm in the system and batting .400 with two homers among his eight extra-base hits in the Cactus league.

Then he got off to a hot start at the plate in MLB, batting .340/.404/.596, 1.000 OPS through his first 16 games, 52 plate appearances. He also made several costly defensive errors and miscues in the field, potentially costing a couple of games in the win column.

That caused manager Torey Lovullo to reduce his playing time. Ironically, as the glove settled down and the errors abated, so too did the bat, as Alexander slumped at the plate. He hit .240/.305/.318, .623 OPS over his next 48 games. His groundball rate (51%) and strikeout rate (27%) were the culprits.

Alexander was optioned back to Triple-A on June 30. He was called up in mid-August and got into three more games, going hitless in eight at-bats, before being optioned back down for good.

In 2025 he's been solidly above average at the plate for the Reno Aces. His batting line of .284/.413/.479 translates to a 120 wRC+, which puts him about 20% above average. But his strikeout percentage is still somewhat high, at 24.5%, as is his ground ball rate of 48.5%.

The most important thing for Alexander will be to regain his manager's trust on the defensive side of things. There is nothing more important to Lovullo for his infielders then to simply "pick up the baseball" and make the routine plays.

Alexander has played 154 innings at third base, 136 at shortstop, and 29 at second base. He's made six errors in total at the three infield positions. He also has 88 innings in center field, an experiment the team wanted to try out during spring but never got to due to his injury.

It will be up to Alexander to prove the defensive struggles are a thing of the past. Anything he does at the plate will be bonus if he plays good defense.