D-backs Minor League Infielder has Career Night for Triple-A Reno

The Diamondbacks minor league affiliates went 1-3 on Thursday night, but there were still some standout performances to highlight.

Triple-A Reno Aces 10, Sugarland Space Cowboys

Blaze Alexander looked to be in a strong position to make the big league club out of spring training. But an early oblique injury sidelined him for almost four weeks, causing him to start the year in Reno.

He's watched as first Tim Tawa, then Jordan Lawlar, followed by Ildemaro Vargas, all got the call up ahead of him when the Diamondbacks needed a backup infielder. Not one to hang his head, or go about life with a negative attitude, the 26-year old has continued to play hard.

Thursday night saw him have his best game as a professional. He went four for five with two homers and six rbi. He had a two-run single in the first, a three-run homer in the second, and a solo homer to right center in the bottom of the fourth.

Alexander's batting line is now .272/.400/.456, .856 OPS. His 113 wRC+ indicates his year to date production has been about 13% better than the league average in the run happy environment of Reno and the PCL.

Blaze Alexander Rocks Two Homers in Reno's Win Over Sugar Land

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— Reno Aces (@Aces) June 13, 2025

Alexander's heroics allowed the Aces to run up a big lead, which they held on to win despite another poor start from Yu-Min Lin. He gave up seven runs, five earned, on nine hits and four walks. He struck out three and allowed a home run. His ERA now stands at 5.86 and he has a 6.77 FIP. He's walked 24 batters in 35 innings.

For a pitcher like Lin, who depends heavily on being able to spin the baseball, the high, dry thin air is an especially tough challenge. Curveballs and other breaking pitches just don't break as much.

The ERA is far less a concern than the FIP and the walks. Lin must not allow himself to be pushed out of the strike zone. Giving up hits and homers is part and parcel of the PCL experience, but if he wants to get called up, he'll need to show he can throw strikes, regardless.

Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles 3, San Antonio Missions 11

Somehow starter Logan Clayton was left hung out to dry to allow all 11 runs in 5.1 innings of work in his second start in AA. Presumably the Amarillo bullpen was stretched thin. Already trailing 9-3, Clayton went back out for the sixth and gave up a one out, two-run homer before mercifully being pulled from the game.

Clayton gave up 10 hits, walked three, and struck out two. All 11 runs were earned, leaving him with a 8.76 ERA in 11 appearances, 38 innings across two levels for the year.

Tommy Troy provided most of the offense with a two-run homer, his sixth of the year. He's batting .286 with a .839 OPS. It's been a bounceback year for Troy, who has a 126 wRC+, or roughly 26% better than the league average hitter.

High-A Hillsboro Hops 0, Eugene Emeralds 1

Daniel Eagen was at it again, justifying his leap into the Top 10 among the Diamondbacks prospects. He threw 6.1 innings allowing only one run in the first inning. That came on a bunt single, stolen base, and then a two-out double.

Eagen threw 5.1 scoreless innings after that, allowing five hits, walking one, and striking out eight batters. He lowered his ERA to 2.77 for his 10 starts, 52 innings.

Unfortunately he received zero run support, as Dylan Carmouche shut out the Hops for six innings on three hits, and the Emeralds bullpen threw three hitless innings, walking just one batter.

Class-A Visalia Rawhide 2, Lake Elsinore Storm 5

Visalia couldn't get much of anything going after the third inning. Modeifi Marte had an RBI double in the first inning and an RBI single in the third, ending up 2-for-4 with two RBI. That was about it for the Rawhide offense for the rest of the game.

While the 6'1", 200 pound Marte has yet to homer this year, he's batting .301 with a .750 OPS and has 10 doubles in 161 plate appearances. He's also walked 17 times and struck out only 26 times. That works out to an excellent 16.1% strikeout rate, which is far better than average.

The 22-year old Marte is repeating the level, and is not considered a highly ranked prospect. But if he continues to make contact at this rate and manages to tap into some power, he could start moving up the system. Marte hit eight homers in 446 PA between the ACL and Class-A across 2023-24.