Down on the Farm: Interview with Diamondbacks Prospect Blaze Alexander
This past week I was able to see a few Midwest League teams I hadn’t seen before (Burlington, Beloit, Quad Cities). While I was at the Kane County vs. Burlington game I was able to meet up with another player who was named to the Midwest League All-Star Game. Kane County’s shortstop, the Diamondbacks prospect Blaze Alexander, was nice enough to chat with me.
Blaze Alexander is a middle infielder who was drafted in the 11th Round by the Arizona Diamondbacks last year. He is a talented young player who fell due to signability concerns. He has the talent to make the Majors, as evidenced by him being named a starter for the Midwest League All-Star Game that takes place on June 18th. He is able to play multiple infield positions and has improved his slash numbers each month so far (rocking a .743 OPS in June). Below are the highlights from my interview with Blaze.
James Weisser: Who is your favorite player to watch?
Blaze Alexander: I’ve always been a Manny Machado fan. He’s got a big arm at third base, he’s a power hitter a gap to gap guy, and defensively he’s one of the best in the game. He’s really fun to watch. Javier Baez is another guy that’s really fun to watch defensively and offensively, he’s a spark plug and he’s high energy so he’s awesome to watch.
JW: What’s your favorite thing about the game of baseball?
BA: Honestly, it’s the friends you make as you kinda go up through the league. I enjoy traveling places I’ve never been before with people I’ve never really met before and talking with other teams players at second. It’s really cool.
JW: What’s one of your favorite ballparks you’ve played at?
BA: Quad Cities stadium, you’ve got the Ferris Wheel in the back, a good crowd, and the Mississippi River is literally right behind the field and they’ve got a nice long bridge that looks pretty when it’s all lit up.
JW: What got you interested in the game of baseball?
BA: My father played baseball, he was a really good minor league pitcher, and he introduced the game to me and my brother and we kinda just took off from there and fell in love with it.
JW: What inspires you to do your best?
BA: The opportunity I’ve been given, not many people get this opportunity, some kids my age are in school and some aren’t in school but I’m out here getting paid to play the game I love and it’s great.
JW: You were picked outside the top 10 rounds and most high school players don’t always sign if their picked after that round. Could you tell me more about your signing and what helped make your decision to sign?
BA: I wanted to play baseball every day and I wasn’t really much of a school guy. Just being able to wake up and not have to worry about anything other than the game and preparing for the game was something I really wanted to do and felt like I was ready to do.
JW: What’s one of the aspects of your game you take pride in, and what’s something you feel you are working on improving.
BA: One of the things I probably take pride in is my energy, I’m a high energy guy. I might not always show it but I’m definitely amped up out there, I’m always ready to go, always ready to make that big play or get that big hit. Something I’m trying to improve at is just everything overall, my overall game, whether it’s hitting, being more selective at the plate, finding more barrels, defensively making every play.
JW: What’s one of the ways that your using baseball to help others?
BA: When I was a senior in high school I participated in the Perfect Game All-America game and they had us work with kids that are at the Rady Children’s Hospital and so we helped to raise I think it was almost a Million dollars to help the kids there. It was an eye opening experience to walk around the hospital and see little kids who don’t deserve to be in that situation, but their there and their in really good spirits just to see us there flipping baseballs to them and their hitting them and their smiling. Just being able to put smiles on their faces was awesome.
JW: What’s one of your favorite movies?
BA: I’m an Avengers guy so superhero movies all those, Marvel they’re really good.
JW: If you could be any superhero who would it be?
BA: I would probably say Flash. It would be awesome to be that fast, everybody loves him. I also like Superman, he’s one of the most liked guys.
JW: What’s your favorite food?
BA: Pizza, Pepperoni Pizza.
JW: What’s your favorite kind of music?
BA: I’m a rap guy, hip hop and rap, big Drake fan, that’s who I’ve really been listening to alot lately.
JW: What do you like to do outside of baseball?
BA: I’m pretty much a stay at home kind of guy. I like to watch movies and play video games.
JW: What’s your favorite video game?
BA: Fortnight or any type of sports video game like NBA, MLB, MLB the Show.
JW: What’s something your good at that people might not know about you?
BA: I’m a pretty good ping pong player.
