Sunday Notes: Alexander is Blazing a Path to Arizona

Blaze Alexander is on the bubble to interrupt camp with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His spring displaying suggests he deserves the chance to take action. In 52 Cactus League plate appearances, the 24-year-old infield prospect has slashed .420/.442/.640 with seven extra-base hits and 5 stolen bases in as many makes an attempt. Moreover, he’s continued to indicate promise since being taken within the eleventh spherical of the 2018 draft out of IMG Academy. That he’s largely flown underneath the radar whereas doing so is beginning to change.

“I hope that’s the case,” Alexander advised me in mid-March. “I mean, I’ve been putting on a pretty good performance this spring, so I definitely think I’m opening some eyes. That said, I obviously need to transfer it over to the regular season.”

The probability of his doing so within the huge leagues was improved on Friday when the D-Backs launched Elvis Andrus, a notable roster transfer provided that the 15-year veteran had been inked to a free agent contract as a possible backup for Geraldo Perdomo. As it now stands, there’s a good likelihood that Alexander — “a viable defensive shortstop with a huge arm… [who] hits for enough power” within the phrases of Eric Longenhagen — will likely be filling that position.

Hitting for energy isn’t one in all Alexander’s goals, neither is it a part of his course of. While he does possess pop — his ledger contains 30 dwelling runs in 734 plate appearances over the previous two minor-league seasons — his M.O. is bullets, not blasts.

“I could put on a show in BP —I could hit most of the balls out — but everyone in this room can do that,” he defined. “ What I want is to be a mature hitter. Your routine transfers over to the game, so what I’m doing in batting practice is trying to hit low line drives from five-to-25 degrees. If you watch Freddie Freeman’s BPs, he’s hitting liners at the shortstop. Doing that allows him to hit homers in games.”

Alexander has tweaked his setup in an effort to make arduous contact on a extra common foundation. He used to have his palms “kind of in front of [his] helmet,” however he now holds them nearer to his shoulder in an effort to have a extra constant launching level. As the teen put it, “I’m not trying to find that spot, because I’m already in that spot. I just get my foot down and keep my direction to the middle of field.”

Some of his favourite gamers over time have prioritized line drives, understanding that well-struck balls will often carry over the fence. Brandon Crawford is one, Derek Jeter — “everyone likes to be compared to him, because he did it the right way” — is one other. A 3rd favourite had a far completely different profile on the plate.

“I’m from the Chicagoland area — Northwest Indiana — and when I was younger, my brother and I were always in front of the TV, watching Sammy Sosa,” recalled Alexander. “We’d be cheering him on, and it seemed like he was always hitting a home run. I’m obviously not going to be Sammy Sosa. What I am striving to be is the best version of myself.”

The present model has him on the doorstep of a big-league debut. Final roster selections are proper across the nook.

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Rusty Peters went 1 for 15 towards Orval Grove.

Babe Dahlgren went 1 for 15 towards Lefty Grove.

Chick Gandil went 2 for 16 towards Grover Lowdermilk.

Pete Knisely went 1 for 15 towards Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Chubby Dean went 1 for 15 towards Pete Appleton.

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A little bit over a month in the past, a reputation I used to be unfamiliar with appeared close to the underside of a Picks To Click article put collectively by Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin. The title, which was on an inventory of potential breakout gamers that business insiders had supplied to our prospect analyst duo, was that of a younger southpaw whose skilled résumé contains all of 38 innings, none above High-A.

Lance Brozdowski is sort of aware of the participant in query. As a matter of truth, it was his title that the Marquee Sports Network analyst cited after I requested who he considers to be probably the most fascinating pitcher within the Chicago Cubs group.

“Arguably the most interesting arm in the system is Drew Gray,” mentioned Brozdowski, whose nerdy pitcher breakdowns are persistently wonderful (try his Twitter feed). “He’s only 20 years old and threw just over 30 innings last year coming off Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss all of 2022. His lefty fastball is what sticks out. He’s a classic combination of good extension (6.9’), low release height (5.5’) and above-average vertical break on his fastball (17”+). He had some hassle discovering the zone with it final season, however the pitch nonetheless missed bats at an above-average clip regardless of sitting beneath 92 mph. On high of that, he had huge motion on his slider with spin as much as 2,900 rpm. If you mission just a few additional ticks of velocity right here, and he finds the zone even marginally extra, he’ll be the highest pitching prospect within the group come 2025. I wonder if the presence and projection of Gray made the Cubs extra keen to commerce fellow lefty and IMG Academy graduate Jackson Ferris to the Dodgers this winter for Michael Busch.”

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Should the 88.9-mph floor ball that went by way of Jake Cronenworth’s glove on this season’s MLB opener in Seoul, South Korea have been dominated successful or an error? I requested that query in a Twitter ballot, and the outcomes have been nearer than I anticipated. Error — the plain name for my part — obtained 55.1%, whereas hit garnered 44.9%.

The xBA on the bouncer was .080. The concept that the hitter must be credited with successful (which he wasn’t) therefore is mindless. None in any respect.

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A quiz:

Maury Wills turned the primary modern-era (since 1901) participant to steal 100 or extra bases in a single season when he swiped 104 with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962. Who is the latest participant to achieve triple digits in steals?

The reply will be discovered beneath.

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NEWS NOTES

The Triple-A Worcester Red Sox have promoted Brooke Cooper to Executive Vice President/General Manager. A 31-year-old Rhode Island native with an MBA from Providence College, Cooper has been with the workforce since 2015, most just lately as Senior VP/Assistant GM.

The Athletic debuted a weekly column titled “Sliders,” which is being penned by the incomparable Tyler Kepner. The inaugural column will be discovered right here.

Chuck Seelbach, a right-handed pitcher for the Detroit Tigers from 1971-1974, died this week at age 76. The Lakewood, Ohio native made 69 of his 75 appearances in 1972, going 9-8 with 14 saves and a 2.91 ERA over 112 innings.

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The reply to the quiz is Vince Coleman. The St. Louis Cardinals speedster stole 100 or extra bases in every of the 1985, 1986, and 1987 seasons. Rickey Henderson’s final 100-steal season was 1983.

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Jumping again to polls, I requested which of two younger NL Central shortstops — Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz and Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz — will put up the higher offensive numbers this season: I anticipated a horserace. What I received as a substitute was a runaway consequence. The Pirate garnered a hefty 69.1% of the votes solid, whereas the Red obtained simply 30.9%.

Cruz, who performed in only a baker’s dozen video games final 12 months as a result of a fractured fibula, has raked this spring. The 25-year-old has slashed .293/.370/.829, and his seven dwelling runs are tied with Baltimore’s Kyle Stowers for probably the most within the Grapefruit League.

De La Cruz, whose rookie season featured each peaks and valleys —- he in the end completed with 13 homers, 35 steals, and an 84 wRC= — has had a much less spectacular spring. The 22-year-old has slashed .277/.370/.553, gone deep twice, and fanned in 37.0% of his 51 plate appearances.

Regular season numbers clearly imply way over spring coaching numbers, and as my colleague Davy Andrews just lately identified, the 6-foot-7 Cruz and 6-foot-5 De La Cruz have extra in frequent than being particularly tall for his or her place. To wit:

Cruz and De La Cruz have each performed in precisely 98 huge league video games, and their skillsets are almost similar, as effectively. They’ve each walked 35 occasions, struck out 33.7% of the time, and posted batting averages and on-base percentages inside two factors of each other.

Whoa. That’s just about the definition of a lifeless warmth. Their different numbers to this point are additionally shut, however what of the longer term? It will likely be fascinating to observe.

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An enchanting workforce to observe this season is the Seattle Mariners. The AL West membership is coming off a 12 months the place they completed 88-74 and fell simply in need of making the playoffs, and projections have them going 85-77 within the 12 months at hand. By all appearances, they’ll as soon as once more be contenders — however will they really go on to play October baseball? And in that case, would possibly they even go deep into October, in the end giving followers all through the Pacific Northwest one thing they’ve lengthy craved: a championship parade in downtown Seattle?

The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier thinks it may occur. Seven of the publication’s sports scribes made 2024 MLB predictions earlier this week, with 4 them tabbing the Mariners to earn a wildcard berth (none had them profitable the division), with Speier’s standing out. Three of the wildcard predictors had Seattle going no additional; Speier had them happening to beat the Dodgers within the World Series.

Working out of the Boston market, I do know that Speier doesn’t visitors in sizzling takes, however somewhat supplies insightful commentary on all issues baseball. Much for that purpose, I reached out to Alex to get his rationale.

“Prediction, especially postseason predictions, are an affront to the epistemological reality that we don’t know squat,” Speier mentioned in an e-mail reply to my request. “When approached with any kind of earnestness, they fly in the face of what I consider one of the foundational joys of sports — randomness and the unknown outcomes of competition. I used to take predictions very seriously, and pretend that I had some insight into what might happen in the future. I have been happily humbled by the inaccuracy of any such prognostications, over and over and over. And so: I say a mighty “Fie!” to the logic of selecting what may be seen as the perfect workforce, and as a substitute picked the Mariners. Why? First, I *love* that the success of untamed card groups within the new format has confirmed that relative expertise shouldn’t be a significant predictor of brief collection success. Secondly, it’s at all times a delight to ponder a season that delivers most happiness to the biggest inhabitants.

“Wouldn’t it be just freaking fantastic to see the entire Pacific Northwest enjoy and celebrate its first-ever championship, with first pitches thrown out by the likes of Griffey and Martinez and RJ, and to think of a team that would be remembered for generations? And finally, sure, there’s a logic to thinking the Mariners have the starting pitching to do something ridiculous like the 2005 White Sox or some such outlier of outlier thing. So: My “prediction” shouldn’t be a suggestion in any respect of one thing that I feel *will* occur, however as a substitute one thing that I fortunately think about *may* occur. So: Why the hell not? Someone would possibly as effectively take the sector towards the Dodgers and the workforce from Atlanta.”

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On the topic of predictions, I made one every week in the past as we speak on a Cincinnati radio station. Appearing as a visitor on WLW’s Sunday Morning Sports Talk with Ken Broo, I opined that not solely will the Reds win the NL Central this 12 months, they’ve a authentic shot at 90 wins. Given the workforce’s projected document (79-81) and a handful of injured gamers to begin the season, that’s maybe a bit too daring? I don’t suppose it’s. As I mentioned on the present, Cincinnati’s beginning pitching depth is spectacular. With the caveat that they’re all younger, choices past the five-man rotation anticipated to begin the season embrace Nick Lodolo, Brandon Williamson, Connor Phillips, Carson Spiers, Lyon Richardson, and 2023 first-rounder Rhett Lowder. Teams usually incur pitching accidents over the course of the season. The Reds can face up to them much better than most.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The KBO season received underway on Saturday with a five-game slate, highlighted by defending champion LG Twins beating the Hanwha Eagles 8-2. Hyun-jin Ryu took the loss for Hanwha in his return to Korea after 10 MLB seasons. Another notable sport was the Samsung Lions topping the KT Wiz 6-2 in 10 innings. Erstwhile Red Sox and Rockies righty Connor Seabold went six innings for the profitable aspect in a strong first KBO begin.

Yonathan Perlaza’s KBO profession is off to a scorching begin. The 25-year-old former Chicago Cubs prospect went 2-for-4 in Hanwha’s opening day loss, then adopted that up with one other 2-for-4 — this time with pair of dwelling runs — because the Eagles outscored the Twins 8-4 earlier as we speak. Perlaza had 23 dwelling runs and a 130 wRC+ with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs final 12 months.

The NPB season is slated to get underway this coming Friday. The Hanshin Tigers, who will open at dwelling towards the Yomiuri Giants, are the defending champions.

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A random obscure former participant snapshot:

Eddie Joost had an underrated profession during which he was at his greatest from 1947-1952. A shortstop for the Philadelphia Athletics over that six-season span, Joost batted simply .248, however he additionally had a .391 on-base proportion, 109 dwelling runs, a 117 wRC+, and 26.1 WAR. Moreover, his 713 walks have been probably the most within the majors, this at a time when his contemporaries included Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Ralph Kiner, and Eddie “The Walking Man” Yost. In phrases of valued talent set — OBP and energy at a center infield place — Joost was many years forward of his time.

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Which participant is the important thing to Toronto’s success this season? I posed that query to Ben Nicholson-Smith, who cowl the Blue Jays for Sportsnet Canada.

“There is no need to complicate this one,” replied Nicholson-Smith. “The answer for the Blue Jays is Vladimir Guerrero Jr.. He’s played five full years in the majors and was famous long before he debuted, so sometimes it’s easy to forget how young Guerrero Jr. is. He turned 25 this month, which makes him younger than Heston Kjerstad, Michael Busch and Joey Ortiz – players who still appear on pre-season top-prospect lists. Already, we’ve seen Guerrero Jr. perform at an MVP level, as he hit 48 home runs in 2021, but his offensive production has dropped off each year since, and he hit just 26 home runs last year en route to a 118 wRC+. Clearly, he’s capable of more, though. If he accesses that ceiling again, the Blue Jays’ lineup will be that much closer to where it needs to be.”

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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold named a new-to-the-team beginning pitcher when answering the query for the Cardinals.

The reply must be Sonny Gray,” Goold opined. “The Cardinals chased innings all of last season, trying to overcome a crater created by inconsistent, abbreviated, and ineffective starts from the rotation. The shopping list of the winter, as coined by executive John Mozeliak, was “pitching, pitching, pitching.” They acknowledged they wanted so as to add multiple starter, however additionally they sought so as to add a No. 1. They entered the offseason centered on Sonny Gray and optimistic they may signal the Cy Young runner up. “Sonny was the guy we wanted,” the supervisor advised me just lately.

“Their pursuit and their offer — could be the first $100-million deal for a free-agent pitcher in club history — reveals his importance. They wanted him to not only lead the rotation in performance but lead the rotation. For the first time in more than a generation, the Cardinals do not have an heir ready, like Wainwright was to Carpenter, or Carpenter was to Morris, Morris to Kile. All five members of the planned rotation signed as free agents — even Lance Lynn, a homegrown player who left and returned for this season. That speaks to the gap the Cardinals believe they had in their pitching development. Gray is who the Cardinals want as that No. 1 they can count on for exceptional, efficient innings and wins, and the No. 1 they want to turn to for Game 1 of a playoff series. He’s pivotal to the Cardinals’ success in a season that is vital to the Cardinals’ direction and brand. Was last year a blip, as they say, or the dip that reveals a trend?. All this, and Sonny Gray is starting the season at least two weeks behind his peers due to a hamstring injury.”

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

At Front Office Sports, Bradford William Davis wrote about Shohei Ohtani and the way the playing scandals are solely starting.

At Mile High Sports, Drew Creasman gave us three spring-training-influenced predictions for the Colorado Rockies.

The Giants and well-liked longtime PA announcer Renel Brooks-Moon are parting methods after not having the ability to come to phrases on a contract. Ann Killion has the story at The San Francisco Chronicle.

Former Atlanta Braves outfielder Gary Cooper — as soon as thought of the quickest man in baseball — missed qualifying for an MLB pension by sooner or later. Dave Mesrey wrote about it at Andscape.

David Bilmes chronicled the life and profession of Cecil Fielder for SABR’s Bio Project.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS

The Tampa Bay Rays gained their first 13 video games final season and have been 27-6 on May fifth earlier than going to complete 99-63 after which get swept within the Wild Card Series. In 2019, the Washington Nationals have been 19-31 on May twenty third earlier than going to complete 93-69 and in the end profitable the World Series.

Three distinguished former Cincinnati Reds — Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and Pete Rose — performed for the 1983 NL champion Philadelphia Phillies. Four gamers who later wore Reds uniforms — Don Carman, John Denny, Bo Diaz, and Juan Samuel — have been additionally on the workforce. Pat Corrales, who managed the Phillies for the primary half of the season, caught for the Reds from 1968-1972.

Earl Moore’s 1908 MLB season comprised three begins and 26 innings pitched for the Phillies. The right-hander allowed 4 runs, none of them earned. Moore’s 26 innings are the probably the most in a single season for a pitcher who completed with a 0.00 ERA.

Pete Rose had a 121 wRC+, 160 HR, a .303 BA, and three batting titles.
Bill Madlock had a 121 wRC+, 163 HR, a .305 BA, and 4 batting titles.

Mike Trout has a 170 wRC+, a .416 wOBA, 1,624 hits, 310 doubles, and 206 steals.
Shoeless Joe Jackson had a 165 wRC+, a .443 wOBA, 1,772 hits, 307 doubles, and 202 steals.

Two California-born gamers (Barry Bonds and Brett Butler) have stolen 500 or extra bases. Two Rhode Island-born gamers (Hugh Duffy and Davey Lopes) have stolen 500 or extra bases.

On as we speak’s date in 1984, the Detroit Tigers traded Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss to the Philadelphia Phillies in alternate for Willie Hernandez and Dave Bergman. The Tigers went on to win the 1984 World Series, whereas Hernandez captured each the AL MVP and Cy Young awards.

The Tigers signed J.D. Martinez as a free agent on as we speak’s date in 2014, two days after he was launched by the Houston Astros. The right-handed slugger has hit 291 dwelling runs and logged a 140 wRC+ within the ensuing 10 seasons.

Players born on as we speak’s date embrace Al Chambers, an outfielder/DH who performed for the Seattle Mariners from 1983-1985. The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native made his MLB debut towards the Boston Red Sox and promptly swatted two-run singles off of Dennis Eckersley in every of his first two plate appearances. It was downhill from there. Chambers completed his profession with 25 hits and 11 RBIs.

Also born on as we speak’s date was Ernie Shore, who on June 23, 1917 threw an ideal sport that isn’t within the document books as an ideal sport. Babe Ruth began for the Red Sox, walked the primary batter he confronted, then was ejected by dwelling plate umpire after voicing some selection phrases. Shore changed Ruth, the runner was thrown out making an attempt to steal, and the following 26 Washington Senators went down so as.