Middle Infield Roundup – Nothing Above Mids

Howdy again, y’all. Happy belated blaze it day, for those who celebrated legally. To those who chose to commit misdemeanors, I will be calling your mothers, and may god have mercy on your soul.

To honor the pseudo-holiday, let’s highlight (or lowlight) some players in a little game of Puff, Puff, or Pass. You’ll figure out the rules as we go along.

Puff, Puff – Blaze Alexander

Did I intentionally wait to talk about Blaze Alexander so I could do it as close to the weed number as possible? Yes. Please, Mr. Professional was my father’s name. My friends call me Consummate.

In all seriousness, Alexander has provided a nice spark (lol) for the Arizona offense, hitting .368 with a sky-high .737 slugging percentage over the past week. There’s a Boeing joke here somewhere… What was I talking about? Oh yeah, Blaze Alexander.

I have reservations about Blaze’s ceiling based on his Baseball Savant data—the profile screams Reginald.

That said, you won’t find anything above mids on the waiver wire, and his playing time is merely that concrete. He’s a solid play in deeper leagues like 15-team or NL-only, but borderline in 12-or-fewer-team mixed leagues.

Pass – Gleyber Torres

Like a room full of straight-edge folks who don’t partake in that loud, or Morgan Wallen’s discography, the box score has often been hitless when Gleyber Torres has been in the lineup this year. This is a huge drag because I thought he was a solid value at ADP based on the addition of Juan Soto, who is basically if Godfather OG was a baseball player.

Despite carrying a career-worst 63 wRC+, I still think he can figure it out and put up a respectable season, but I can’t blame folks who shunted Torres to their benches when he was bumped down to sixth in the batting order after hitting leadoff to start the year.

Combing through his Baseball Savant page, the most notable piece of plate discipline data I found was that Torres has the lowest Swing% of his career so far. To stem the bleeding caused by his early season woes and start hitting some seeds, I think Gleyber needs to make like a stoner at a Golden Corral and get aggressive at the plate. C’mon, Gleyber. Fill your stomach, fill the box score (This was a stretch).

Puff, Puff – Amed Rosario

About a month ago I would have said “Amed Rosario? Are you high?” But his playing time has been more consistent than expected, and I think folks are justified in their chronic optimism for him.

So far he’s shown career-high ZoneSwing% and career-low Chase% and Whiff%, meaning he’s making good use of the hit tool people have always lauded him for.

Despite his continued inability to take a walk, he and his fellow middle infield bud Jose Caballero should provide a plentiful stolen base harvest, and as a name who was sitting in the 400s in ADP in high stakes leagues on NFC, his particular strain of fantasy production has given you the best bang for your buck if you nabbed him in your deep leagues.

Pass – Ryan McMahon

Remember last week when I said that Ryan McMahon would come down from the Rocky Mountain high he was experiencing? Well, we’ve begun our descent. Please fasten your safety belts and return your tray tables to their upright and locked positions.

Career-high Chase%? Career-low Zone Swing%? All the notable plate discipline indica-tors were pointing toward McMahon regressing, as he’s gone 4-for-20 with 8 strikeouts over the past week. The Hard-Hit% has been impressive, but I cannot stress enough that I would still sell high if it’s an option.

Any names you’re high on that I should be covering? Any pressing existential questions? Hit me up in the comments and let’s chop it up.