The Arizona Diamondbacks have now played a week's worth of games in Spring Training. Their first game was Friday, February 23, against the Colorado Rockies. Since then, they have gone 4-3. We've already gotten a preview of what could come from players this year. After the Diamondbacks' first seven games of 2024 are in the books, what takeaways can we get from the team's first week of Spring Training?
Blaze Alexander is powerful
Blaze Alexander is one of the D-Backs' best prospects. MLB Pipeline and Baseball America consider him a top-15 prospect in the system. Last season, he batted .290/.490/.472 with a .393 wOBA and 115 wRC+, mostly with Triple-A Reno (he spent a few games at the team's Arizona Fall League affiliate because he missed the second half of April and all of May). He had an above-average 12.8% walk rate. However, he struggled to keep his strikeout rate down with a 26.8% K-rate.
So far, Alexander has stepped to the plate a dozen times in Spring and has five hits and eight total bases. He has both a double and a triple and has stolen a base. The infielder has yet to draw a walk but has only struck out once. Alexander is also hitting the ball very hard. He has a 100.3 MPH exit velocity thus far in the small sample size.
It is only Spring Training numbers, and in a 12-plate appearance sample size; however, Alexander getting off to a good start is promising. One thing that is good to see is that he's struck out just a single time. Strikeouts have been his kryptonite, so it would be nice to see him improve in that department in 2024. Alexander is already 24, will turn 25 in June, and is currently on the 40-man roster. He'll likely get some Major League playing time this season. He could be one of the first called upon in the event of an injury, or if Geraldo Perdomo struggles.