Diamondbacks' shortstop Blaze Alexander works on improving after fielding miscues
In the third inning of Sunday’s win over the Cardinals, Blaze Alexander saw a ball he’s seen thousands of times in his life. Not particularly well-struck, three hops, right at him. An average runner at first base, a slow one in the batters’ box. The most routine of double plays.
So, naturally, Alexander did what he’s done on nearly every one of those thousands of occasions. He readied his feet, stuck out his glove, gathered the ball, pulled it into his chest and flipped it to second base. Easy, unremarkable, forgotten moments later.
Well, not quite. Over the past week and a half, Alexander has endured the type of stretch every rookie fears. On the Diamondbacks’ most recent road trip, he made three errors in five starts. Two of them led directly to runs. One cost the Diamondbacks a win.
Alexander’s miscues have come at a particularly perilous time. Geraldo Perdomo, the Diamondbacks’ starting shortstop, tore his meniscus two weeks ago and has not resumed baseball activity. Jordan Lawlar, the club’s top prospect, tore a ligament in his thumb and is out for multiple months. Beyond Alexander, the two remaining shortstop options at manager Torey Lovullo’s disposal are Kevin Newman and Jace Peterson, a pair of veterans who bring limited offensive impact.
As the Diamondbacks navigate their early-season injury barrage, Alexander offers an upside neither of those players possess. He may never have been considered a top prospect, but he swung the bat well for Triple-A Reno last season, then followed that up with an electric spring training to earn a roster spot. With a new, more selective offensive approach, he’s carried that success into the regular season, hitting .286 with a pair of homers in 12 games. It’s everything the Diamondbacks need out of their interim shortstop.
Except, of course, the defense.
Which is why, while the third inning grounder on Sunday may have seemed routine, it was anything but. This was Alexander’s first opportunity after three straight days not playing the field.
In that span, he changed gloves, replacing an old reliable with a newer model given to him by Peterson. This glove is half an inch bigger, with a firmer pocket.
“I love his glove now,” infield coach Tony Perezchica said. “I hear that sound that all good infielders make when they hit it.”
Perhaps more importantly, he’s taken hundreds of reps with Perezchica, focusing on the simplest fundamentals of fielding.
“I need to slow the game down,” Alexander said. “I'm speeding up, get excited, I see the ball hit to me and I'm running after it instead of breaking it down, really reading the hop.”
When Alexander first debuted, he said, he felt like his normal self. In his first defensive start, he converted all eight opportunities. Then came the series opener against the Braves, when his error opened the floodgates for a ninth-inning rally that sunk the Diamondbacks.
“Made that mistake in Atlanta, late (in the) game and it just kinda compiled,” Alexander said. “Made another one on a slow roller and it just — you've gotta slow the game down.”
Part of doing that is being comfortable on the major league stage. Over the past week, Alexander has talked with veteran teammates like Christian Walker and Joc Pederson about adapting to that new reality. Everything moves just a bit faster at this level, making it more critical to be aware of nuances like a baserunner’s speed.
The other part is ensuring his fielding is in order mechanically. While Perezchica believes Alexander’s new glove can make a difference, he’s also focused with his young shortstop on ‘glove presentation’ — getting his glove out in front early and opening his pocket towards the ball.
“I don't want to see half a pocket,” Perezchica said. “Presentation of the glove, you look at (Nolan) Arenado, you look at Walker, you look at what made Perdomo more consistent last year, it's the presentation of the glove.”
As Perezchica notes, Alexander “has always been a guy with a lot of talent.” He has an elite arm and was not considered a defensive liability as a prospect. In Triple-A Reno last year, he committed just four errors in 73 games. This spring, he impressed at all three infield positions.
“It’s about making sure that (his) talent gets molded in the right way,” Perezchica said.
On Sunday, in his first chance to show his progress, Alexander converted the two opportunities that came his way, even if both were straightforward. Still, he hasn’t gone consecutive starts without an error all season.
The chance to do that will arrive soon enough. In the second game against the Cardinals, Lovullo sat Alexander, the first time he had done so against a left-handed starter. Given the other healthy options available to him, Lovullo did not sound like he wants to make a habit of that.
“I can't run from players and Blaze is a good, young, talented player that's growing,” Lovullo said. “I have to give him these opportunities to go out there and log innings and log moments where he's gonna figure himself out.”
In the field, it’s on Alexander to show he deserves those opportunities.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Blaze Alexander working through defensive struggles for Diamondbacks
