One of the best moves the Baltimore Orioles made this past offseason was trading for utility man Blaze Alexander in a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
While the season has not played out the way many fans had hoped, Alexander has been a pleasant surprise. He got a path toward playing time after third baseman Jordan Westburg was ruled out for the season and never looked back.
Across 82 games, the 27-year-old posted a .312 batting average, .368 on-base percentage, .807 OPS, four home runs and 29 RBIs.
Unfortunately, Alexander's season was interrupted by an injury back on July 12 during a game against the Kansas City Royals. He suffered a fracture in his left hand after being drilled by a fastball from Royals relief pitcher Lucas Erceg. The benches cleared and Alexander was visibly frustrated as he was forced to exit the game.
Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
After the game, the diagnosis revealed that while Alexander would not need surgery his hand was broken and he was expected to miss several weeks.
It has been nearly a month since he suffered the setback, and Alexander addressed reporters before Friday's game against the Texas Rangers. He revealed he played catch for the first time since breaking his hand.
He had been throwing with his healthy right hand, but this was the first time he tested out catching the ball with his left. He also added that he hopes to begin hitting next week along with doing infield drills (h/t Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner).
While Alexander still has a long road toward returning, it is encouraging to see him make this much progress. Time is not on his side though, especially as Baltimore continues to slip out of the wild card race.
But getting him back on the field and producing would be huge for an Orioles lineup that lost two valuable pieces in Adley Rutschman and Taylor Ward at the trade deadline.
