This unlikely breakout is reshaping the future of the Orioles infield

When the Baltimore Orioles traded for Blaze Alexander this offseason, it was a bit of a head-scratching move. At the time, the Orioles had a crowded infield with more bats than could even fit on the roster, so trading for another infielder seemed redundant, and to get their hands on Alexander, they had to give up a promising arm from an already weak bullpen. As time has gone on, this season, the trade has aged incredibly well. It now looks like the highlight of the offseason and arguably the best trade the Orioles have made in years.

So far this season, Alexander is slashing .312/.362/.447 and is currently leading the team in wRC+. These numbers are even more impressive if you take into account the fact that at the end of April, Alexander was slashing .177/.250/.210 and was a negative WAR player. He's been one of the best hitters in baseball since May 1st, and without him, the Orioles season would have been over before Memorial Day. If the season ended today, he'd be your Most Valuable Oriole.

Blaze Alexander deserves to be considered an important part of the Orioles future

That being the case, it is time for the Orioles to adjust how they are using Alexander. Even as Alexander has been on an absolute tear at the plate, the Orioles have continued to deploy him as if he were the offensively challenged utilityman he looked like in April. He doesn't play every day, but when he does play, he bounces around the diamond, and he always hits at the bottom of the lineup.

Some of that is valuable. Having a versatile player who can play multiple positions and give different guys a day off is a great luxury and one that statistics don't always capture. It's also nice to get production from the bottom third of your lineup. So it's not the end of the world that Alexander moves around and bats ninth.

However, just because a player can be versatile doesn't mean that's the best way to use them. With how well Alexander has played this season, the best way for the Orioles to use him would be to make him their everyday third baseman and move him up in the batting order.

Look at it like this: As nice as it is that Alexander can start in left field and give Taylor Ward a break, or start in right field and make it so the Orioles don't have to play Tyler O'Neill, but every time the Orioles put Alexander in the outfield, they have to play Coby Mayo at third base. Mayo's struggles at the plate and terrible defense completely negate whatever bonus having Alexander in the outfield provides.

Alexander is one of the best hitters on the team and a much better defender at third base than Mayo. There is no reason for this to be a timeshare that favors Mayo. Just play the better player at third base every day, and you'll get a lot more value out of the position. Especially once Dylan Beavers comes back, the team will have enough outfielders to not need to play Alexander out there nearly as much.

Mayo should be limited to starting only against left-handed pitching, and preferably, when he's in the lineup, it should be as a DH. If the Orioles wanted to make it so Mayo starts at third against lefties and on those days Alexander moves to second, and effectively create a Mayo and Holliday platoon that has the potential to work.

As far as the batting order is concerned, as nice as it is to have Alexander hitting ninth and setting the table for the top of the order, it would be even better if he were just hitting at the top of the order. As the nine-hole hitter, he gets fewer at-bats than anyone else on the team, and he frequently ends up hitting with one or two outs and nobody on. If the first batter of the game was Alexander and his .312 batting average, that would not be fun for opposing pitchers.

The important thing here is that Alexander's ability to hit for a high batting average appears to be sustainable. He is in the 98th percentile in expected batting average this season. While he might not be able to sustain the .400 batting average from the last month, the expected stats indicate that he should level out as a true talent high batting average player.

This Alexander breakout looks real. The Orioles would be wise to adapt to it as soon as possible.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow