The Diamondbacks are bringing one of baseball’s most highly-ranked prospects, as Jeff Passan of ESPN reports they are promoting outfielder Alek Thomas. The club had an opening on the 40-man roster, meaning no corresponding move will be necessary in that regard. To make room on the active roster, catcher Carson Kelly was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 5, with a strained left oblique.
Thomas was selected by the D-Backs in the second round of the 2018 draft out of Mount Carmel High School in Chicago. Just 18 years old at the time, he played 56 rookie ball games that year, 28 each on two different teams, hitting .333/.395/.463, wRC+ of 133, with a walk rate of 8.9% and strikeout rate of just 13.7%.
In 2019, he got bumped up to A-ball, playing 91 games and hitting .312/.393/.479. His walk and strikeout rates were 10.7% and 17.9%, culminating in a 153 wRC+. He got promoted to High-A that year and struggled a bit, which isn’t terribly surprising given that he was more than three years younger than the average age for that level and it was also a small sample of just 23 games.
The pandemic wiped out the 2020 season but didn’t slow Thomas down at all. In 2021, he started his season in Double-A and played 72 games there, hitting ten home runs and stealing eight bases. Along with a walk rate of 11.2% and strikeout rate of 19.8%, he hit .283/.374/.507 for a wRC+ of 134. He got promoted to Triple-A and took his game up another notch. Despite his walk and strikeout rates slipping to 9% and 20.5%, he hit eight home runs in just 34 games, adding five steals, finishing with a line of .369/.434/.658, wRC+ of 168. Thomas is now considered one of the top prospects in the game, coming into this season with Baseball America ranking him #32, MLB Pipeline #40 and FanGraphs #23.
Thomas, who turned 22 years old just over a week ago, is off to a fine start to this year. Although not quite as blistering as his first taste of Triple-A, he’s hitting a solid .277/.362/.495, wRC+ of 117. It’s possible that Thomas is being held back by some bad luck, as he’s lowered his strikeout rate to 13.8% this year, increased his walk rate to 11.2%, but has just a .293 batting average on balls in play, well below his numbers in previous seasons.
He’s played primarily in center field so far this year, making 22 starts there along with a couple in right. Although some evaluators think he may need to move into a corner in the long run, it’s possible the team lets him stick in center field at first to see how he fares. Daulton Varsho has taken most of the starts in center field so far this year. However, he has the unusual distinction of being both a center fielder and a catcher. With Kelly’s placement on the injured list, it seems Varsho might start spending more time behind the dish with Thomas taking over the center field duties. Jose Herrera is the only other catcher on either the active roster or the 40-man roster. The club hasn’t provided a timeline for Kelly’s return.
After a brutal 52-110 finish last year, the Snakes are off to an encouraging start this year, currently sitting on a 14-14 record. Despite hovering at the .500 level, they’re still in last place in a very competitive NL West, but the better record has to feel good for those in the organization. Thomas is one of many exciting prospects that give the club hope of better results this year and in the years to come. He is one of five D-Backs on the Top 100 prospect lists of both Baseball America and FanGraphs.
Current and future Dbacks just got better!
D-backs are playing .500 ball and have lots of young guys poised to make their debuts this year and next. It’s early, and there will be lots of bumps in the road, but the D-backs could be competing for a WC in a year or two.
While C Carson Kelly is injured, Daulton Varsho moves from CF to Catcher, and Thomas plays CF.
With a grade 1 oblique stream, Kelly is likely out for 4 weeks. That should give the team plenty of ABs to consider whether or not to keep Thomas up for the rest of the year.
This would seem to be a good time to bring up Dominic Miroglio from Triple A, probably the best overall catcher in their system. Both Kelly and Jose Herrera are struggling terribly at the plate, and Herrera might be well served to get some more consistent at bats down in triple A. I love the Thomas promotion, and would like to see more of their younger guys up in what is a rebuilding year.
Dbacks have some good young talent on the Horizon
Hope Ownership figures out their Stadium situation
Not like Oakland and TB
they have a beautiful ballpark in a great area with a strong fanbase through a rough stretch; once they start to compete i have no doubt chase will start to fill up
Nothing is wrong with stadium. The owner is a Q anon loving, right wing whacko who is cheap. They will.move eventually and Phoenix will be better off.
Wow, what a nasty post, what are your sources?
DBACKS are brutal, any chance they don’t finish last in their division, no chance
They could be average and still finish last in that division
Even if the Dbacks finish last in their division, they will still have a W-L record better than 1/2 of the league, which is where their above .500 record puts them right now. So, to write that the Dbacks are “brutal” because they finish last in their division is grossly exaggerated ignorance.
Jack Buckley is nothing. He is a troll. Ignore him.
Many will doubt Thomas but I say bringing up Alek was smart
Carroll should be taking his spot in AAA, he is wasting his time in AA right now
Yep.
I wouldn’t call a .857 OPS in the PCL solid but we will see. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him struggle in his first stint in the majors but hope I am wrong in that.
Is the PCL still displaying inflated numbers or are they being affected by the deadballs, as well?
Numbers are a bit down this year, that’s true, but you’d still have to take away .250-.300 of a player’s PCL OPS to have a perception of what he’d reach at MLB level. To put things in perspective: Matt Davidson’s was almost 1,500. Jake McCarthy is hitting well over 1,000 too.
He’s in the starting lineup today, batting 8th.
It seemed like Thomas got the least amount of attention out of the D-Backs “Big Three” OF prospects (Thomas, Carroll, Robinson), up until the past year or so at least, but I think he could end up being the best of the three ultimately. He looks like the kind of player that will do almost everything very solidly, even if he doesn’t have one truly elite tool.
Robinson’s star is fading away very rapidly as a prospect. Let’s see if he ever makes it back to a baseball field in the US.
Kristian Robinson’s star hasn’t faded. His legal difficulties are taking forever to resolve. I still think he is the key to that OF, since he’s the only right handed hitter of the 3 and has the biggest power profile
Did you see that sweet stroke today on his double to left center? Hope he sticks to that, because that’s his game right there.
Best of luck to Alek!
I see what you did there Brew88.