Diamondbacks Infielder Activated from IL, Optioned to Triple-A

The Arizona Diamondbacks have announced a roster move. Per the team's communications department infielder Blaze Alexander has been reinstated off the 10-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Reno. The 40-man roster is at 40.

Alexander suffered an oblique strain in late February in spring training, sidelining him for the next month. He did not appear in any Cactus League games from that point forward. After a period of rest and recovery, Alexander began doing baseball activities in mid-March and worked his way up to being able to play in games.

He has been on a rehab assignment with the Reno Aces, but the time period for that has run out, so he needed to be officially optioned to Triple-A.

It was a tough blow for Alexander, as he was originally thought to have a good shot at making the opening day roster as a utility player. He put in a lot of work in the offseason, and was looking well prepared to compete for that roster spot. Speaking to him on March 2, one could truly feel the sense of disappointment and frustration.

"Last night being home for me, just thinking about all the work I put in during the offseason. It's four months of grinding, for it to get cut short [voice trails...], it's obviously unfortunate" said Alexander that day.

But true to his trademark upbeat optimistic and high-energy approach to both baseball and life, Alexander quickly got to work, and made his way back to in games play relatively quickly. He's been playing in Triple-A games since April 8. In seven games he's batting .250/.400/.292, .692 OPS.

It will be up to him now to play his way back into the major leagues. With Ketel Marte out with a hamstring injury until the end of April, the D-backs have turned to Tim Tawa and veteran utility man Garrett Hampson to fill the gap at second base, while occasionally spelling the other infielders.

As such, it appears that Alexander has fallen down the infield depth chart. This also does not take into account top prospect Jordan Lawlar, who has been playing mostly second base over the last week or two.

Accordingly, and quite significantly, Alexander has played center field three times and shortstop twice. Getting the right-handed hitter reps in center field is an important development, considering Jake McCarthy and Alek Thomas are both left-handed. Playing outfield is something the team was planning on having Alexander do in spring training, but never got to it due to the injury.

Alexander has a very strong arm, in fact one of the strongest in the organization. That is not something that the D-backs have had much at the major league level, having prioritized speed and range in drafting and developing their outfielders.

Alexander in fact is quite fast, and should he learn the jumps and routes well in the outfield, he could turn into a defensive asset playing on the grass. Whether or not this is the route he utlimately takes to get back to the major leagues is a development to watch over the comings weeks and months.