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Player development is seldom, if ever, a linear progression and instead usually involves a lot of ups and downs along the way. That's worth keeping in mind as you watch the final weeks of this season unfold because the Diamondbacks, partly due to trades and partly due to injuries, are taking a look at some of their better young players, particularly when it comes to the position-player group. Whether that's Blaze Alexander, Jordan Lawlar, Tyler Locklear, Adrian Del Castillo, Jorge Barrosa or Tim Tawa, there will be growing pains along the way. |
Take Alexander, for instance. He opened last season in the big leagues after mashing his way onto the roster during Spring Training. And then he struggled at times both defensively and at the plate. This year, after opening the season on the injured list, he has seemingly found his way on both sides of the ball and has made the case to GM Mike Hazen that he should have a leg up on a starting spot next year. Alexander is an example of the message Hazen was sending to the team when he met with them following the Trade Deadline. |
"Part of what I told those guys is, ‘Don't come in next year and say that you didn't have an opportunity to show us what you could do to prevent us from [acquiring] people [in the offseason] on top of you,’" Hazen said. "And if he keeps playing the way he's playing … it's already happened with Jordan Lawlar, to a degree. Like Lawlar is up here, and Blaze is staying on the field, so that's already happened. The next step from that is, I go into this offseason and don't acquire somebody that's going to be getting his at-bats. He's got to keep going." Progress is also not always measured in statistics. In the case of Locklear, who came over in the trade that sent Eugenio Suárez to Seattle at the Deadline, the numbers are not good, but Arizona has seen glimpses of what he can become. "He's got plenty of power, and I think he has an approach and an ability to grind at-bats," Hazen said before Locklear suffered what looks to be a season-ending injury over the weekend. "I think there's times now where he's gotten a little more in swing mode, chasing a little bit more, but he's shown us the ability to have at-bats and pick pitches to go after. And it's something that he's done in his career. So I'm confident we can get it to translate at this level. It's not like we're teaching him a new skill." |
Lawlar, the former Diamondbacks top prospect, was hitless in his first 31 at-bats this year after scuffling at the plate in a limited look in Sept. 2023. Since then, he's begun to swing the bat better, and the Diamondbacks see him making adjustments at the plate that are getting him closer to breaking out. "I think he's grinding through his at-bats," Hazen said. "I know what everybody wants, the immediate gratification and the performance. And I understand that everybody wants it. He wants it. He's got to stay with an offensive plan that is about getting the right pitches to swing at and getting on base, and it's going to happen for him." |
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo has shepherded a number of young players through their initial struggles in the big leagues during his nine years at the helm, and he has a unique way of looking at their progression, likening it to school graduations. "I think every young player eventually wants to get a PhD in baseball," Lovullo said. "And those are the Derek Jeter types of players, but you got to start in grade school. You got to start in elementary school, and you got to find your way through those tough times, getting called up and then graduating to being an everyday player." Different players do it at different speeds. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo is an example of a player who has progressed from initially struggling to being an everyday player, to becoming elite at his position. |
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It's easy for fans to see Corbin Carroll dominate in his first full season in the Majors and win the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year and use that as a measuring stick for other young players. That would be unfair. "Nobody's Corbin," Hazen said. "I've said this 100 times, having Corbin Carroll as the expectation for what a young player is going to do at this level, is absurd. It's absurd. He's a top 10 player in baseball, like, those guys are different. They're just different." |
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Double-A Amarillo outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt, who was selected with the 31st overall pick in the 2024 Draft, was named Arizona's Minor League Player of the Month for August. Ranked as the top prospect in the Arizona system with Lawlar in the big leagues, Waldschmidt also won Texas League Player of the Month honors for August. Right-hander Taylor Rashi, who is currently in the big leagues, won the organization's Pitcher of the Month award for his work with Triple-A Reno. |
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