The Arizona Diamondbacks' top prospect could be forcing their hand this spring. Jordan Lawlar has had a solid spring at the plate, hitting .269 with a home run, five extra-base hits, and a .922 OPS in 29 plate appearances, which changes the dynamic for who could be the Diamondbacks backup shortstop and utility infielder.
Lawlar is a prospect who qualified as a Top 100 prospect on all three lists for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. That gives them an incentive to put him on the Opening Day roster, as an eligible prospect who accrues a full year of service time (172 days) could earn the team some awards. If he were to finish first in the National League Rookie of the Year or a finalist in the Most Valuable Player award in one of his pre-arbitration seasons, the Diamondbacks would gain a first round pick. Corbin Carroll's unanimous Rookie of the Year award in 2023 got the Diamondbacks an extra pick, that turned into Ryan Waldschmidt, a top prospect in the organization.
Even with the incentive to roster him, there still is an argument to be made to send him down to Triple-A Reno, where he can get consistent at-bats and reps defensively. Lawlar has only played 28 games at that level over the past two seasons, so those reps would be the last bit of seasoning before he's ready. There isn't a spot in the starting lineup for him to get those at-bats at the major league level, so they'd have to get creative for him to make the Opening Day roster.
Unfortunately for Lawlar, the Diamondbacks already have everyday starters at second base, shortstop, and third. So he'd have to make the team as the backup shortstop and a utlity infielder who can back up all three spots. Blaze Alexander was the ideal candidate for that role but is unlikely to make the Opening Day roster due to an injury.
"So I think that's kind of our thinking, getting him repped out over there at third base," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told Diamondbacks on SI's Jack Sommers. "And look, he's fighting to make the team. So anything's possible to happen. He might be our backup infielder. We will have to get him repped to second base, but we talked about doing that a little bit later in camp."
The tricky part of that plan is the number of starts he would get. In Triple-A he would be playing five games a week, whereas at the major league level he might get 2-3. But at the same time, he is relatively unproven. With only 34 plate appearances, he struggled to a .129/.206/.129 slash at the end of the 2023 season. It was clear that he wasn't ready to face MLB pitching after getting fast-tracked through the minor league system.
So now the Diamondbacks face a dilemma over balancing Lawlar's development and putting the best 26 players on the roster. It will become more clear as they cut the roster down toward Opening Day.