BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles just can’t have nice things.
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Immediately after their best stretch of baseball of the season, ending with their fourth straight victory Sunday to enter the All-Star break on a high note, manager Craig Albernaz revealed that one of his best players has a broken hand.
Blaze Alexander, who was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning of the Orioles’ 8-2 win over the Royals, suffered a nondisplaced fracture in his left hand. A nondisplaced fracture is one that does not move the bone out of alignment, potentially resulting in a slightly quicker recovery timeline.
“He’s Blaze, so it’s … it hurts. But also, he has a good attitude about it,” manager Craig Albernaz said after the game.
Alexander received an X-ray during the game, but Albernaz didn’t have a timeline for how long he could be out. Alexander will see a doctor over the All-Star break.
The injury to Alexander, a spark plug for an offense that’s finally started coming to life, is a “gut punch,” Albernaz said.
“Absolutely, especially how Blaze has been playing on both sides of the ball, especially the way he’s swinging the bat,” the first-year skipper said. “But our guys show we’re resilient. Blaze will be around and see where he’s at rehab-wise and go from there.”
The hit by pitch angered Alexander, potentially because Royals reliever Lucas Erceg quick-pitched him on the offering that struck him in the hand. It resulted in a benches-clearing fracas, though no punches were thrown and no players were ejected. Alexander was immediately removed from the game, as Albernaz substituted in Coby Mayo as a pinch runner.
Alexander has been one of the Orioles’ best players this season, a surprise after president of baseball operations Mike Elias swung a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the utilityman in February. After Jordan Westburg’s season-ending elbow injury, Alexander was thrust into a regular role for the first time in his big league career, and he handled it with aplomb.
After Sunday’s win, during which Alexander reached in all four of his plate appearances, he is hitting a sparkling .312 with an .807 OPS. Since he made several swing changes in early May, he has been one of the best hitters in MLB and forced himself into a near-everyday role with the Orioles.
“Blaze has been doing it this year,” first baseman Pete Alonso said. “I mean, offensively, defensively, like what he brings, not just from a performance, but energy every single day. … So losing him, not just like his skill set, but also losing the the performance night in night out. Yeah, it’s a tough one. I’ve had broken hands before, so I know that’s kind of going to be a not an easy pill to swallow. It’s really frustrating, but I hope he has a really quick and speedy recovery.”
After the win, Orioles players described the bittersweet feeling of ending the first half on a high note with the club’s first four-game winning streak of the season, coinciding with the news of Alexander.
“It’s tough,” starting pitcher Shane Baz said. “It’s kind of a reminder to just don’t take any days for granted. It’s nothing he did wrong. There’s nothing he can control there. It’s just bad luck. It sucks, but I think everyone believes that we have the pieces to step up and pick him up for this time. It’s super unfortunate.”
“That’s tough for us to hear that,” outfielder Leody Taveras said. “God will give us the acknowledgment to help him to realize he will be all right and he will be back with us.”
Without Alexander, the Orioles will have to rely on Coby Mayo even more at third base. The 24-year-old has mashed left-handed pitchers this season, but he’s struggled against righties and defensively at third base. The Orioles could work Jeremiah Jackson or Jackson Holliday in at third base. Triple-A Norfolk infielder Luis Vázquez could be an option to be recalled to take Alexander’s place on the roster. Third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who has 17 homers for the Tides this season, is also an option. And Elias also has the option of trading for an infielder ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline.
The Orioles enter the All-Star break with a 46-51 record but only two games back of the third wild-card spot in the mediocre American League. FanGraphs gives the Orioles only a 21.8% chance to make the playoffs. Beating those odds will be even harder without Alexander.
“We got to pick him up,” Alonso said. “We got to pick him up, and we have to play our best baseball, and then some, in the second half.”
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