What’s the clock on Alek Thomas?

Tommy Troy

Presumably the most likely candidate to be called up from Reno given his aforementioned Rule 5 eligibility, Troy has flown under the radar somewhat, appearing just once on the Top 100 list for MLB Pipeline prior to the 2024 season and promptly falling back off it. Thankfully, he’s thrived out of the spotlight appearing at six different defensive positions – including all three outfield positions – while making some excellent offensive contributions. The team seems to view him as another superutilty player given the crowded outfield, but putting him at second base seems counterproductive to me given how entrenched Ketel Marte is there. Regardless, in 61 combined games with the Aces, Troy possesses a .308/.396/.457 slash line and likely has little seasoning left with AAA before making his major league debut. Now it’s just a question of where he’ll play.

Ryan Waldschmidt

One of the last minor leaguers to be reassigned to minor league camp out of Spring Training, I thought there was a real, but slim, possibility Waldschmidt might make the big league club for Opening Day, but the front office decided to delay his debut given that he hadn’t yet even appeared in AAA before this season. The organization’s lone representative on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospect list, Waldschmidt has continued to impress since being drafted two years ago with Corbin Carroll’s Prospect Promotion Incentive pick. There isn’t quite the same kind of urgency for Waldschmidt as there is for Troy since he has another year of eligibility before being exposed to the Rule 5 Draft, but the ceiling for the young righty seems pretty high. He certainly hasn’t appeared intimidated by the highest levels of the minors, posting a .313/.422/.510 slash line through his first 25 games in Reno while roaming centerfield. I suspect that Waldschmidt is a prototypical September call up that gives him an opportunity for a Rookie of the Year campaign in 2027 – assuming baseball is still around then.

Conclusion

While Thomas seems like an excellent person and still holds the honor of one of the biggest swings in D-Backs history, it’s time that the front office starts having some serious conversations about his future with the organization if they haven’t already. He’s clearly an extremely capable defender who’s capable of using his excellent speed to cause chaos on the bases to make up for an underwhelming offensive contribution, but that strikes me as the profile of a fourth outfielder or depth piece rather than a starting outfielder in the major leagues for a contending team. I suspect that when the roster crunch eventually does hit, Barrosa will find himself as the odd man out first given his similar player profile to Thomas (with worse numbers) and a lack of minor league options leaves him the most vulnerable. But the time to make a decision about Thomas is approaching and would be made much easier if he started hitting even a bit more than he has in the past – like hitting a two-run homer this afternoon as I was writing this piece.