Even at 21-20, the D-backs sit fourth in the NL West and can’t afford to fall much farther behind the Dodgers, Padres and Giants, especially when they have a Top 5 overall prospect waiting in the wings. So now, said prospect is no longer waiting.
Arizona is calling up Jordan Lawlar, MLB's No. 4 overall prospect, to the Majors, as first reported by Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
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This marks Lawlar’s second promotion to The Show. He debuted on Sept. 7, 2023, and featured in 14 regular-season games and three more during the postseason, including one plate appearance (a walk) in the World Series against the Rangers. He was expected to return last season but was severely limited due to thumb and hamstring injuries that kept him in the Minors.
On Sunday, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo acknowledged that the 22-year-old infielder was “knocking as hard as you can at the big league door” and that the club could find playing time for him if he were to rejoin the Majors.
“Based on some of the things I'm telling you -- guys needing days off -- we could, if we need to, we could probably get [Lawlar in the lineup] 3-4 days a week, and that's enough at-bats per week,” he said.
The biggest driver of Lawlar’s return to the desert was his offensive production at Triple-A Reno. The right-handed slugger slashed .336/.413/.579 with six homers, two triples and 15 doubles in 37 games with the Aces. His 51 hits and 38 runs scored are both tops among all Minor Leaguers, while his 23 extra-base hit knocks and 88 total bases both rank second.
Of course, Lawlar produced in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and played his home games in even more hitter-friendly environs of Reno. But his Statcast numbers still pointed to a player with at least average power. Lawlar’s 110.4 mph single on May 9 (only three days before his callup) marked his hardest-hit ball over 65 career games in Triple-A, and his 104.3 mph 90th-percentile exit velocity is slightly above-average for the Minors’ top level. He’s played into that power by lifting and pulling the ball at a solid rate, and that strategy should help regardless of the environment. Mind you, it’s still likely closer to 15-20-homer power right now than 20-plus, but that can still play, given the other tools.
A plus-plus runner, Lawlar will push opposing defenses with his wheels. He recorded sub-4-second home-to-first times on two bunt singles back in April, and he was 13-for-14 in steal attempts in the early season with Reno.
A generally selective hitter, the 2021 first-rounder tends to feast on velocity. According to Baseball Savant, he’s seen 60 pitches of 95+ mph in Triple-A this season and batted .357 with a .571 slugging percentage against them while whiffing on only 19.2 percent of his swings. He’ll miss on breaking and offspeed pitches with more regularity, but not an overly worrisome rate for a player his age and at that level. His splits against righties (.325 AVG, .583 SLG) and lefties (.375, .563) were both good as well, helping his case to play regardless of opposing starting pitcher.
Finding an exact spot on the diamond for Lawlar will be an interesting puzzle for Lovullo to solve multiple times per week, as he noted.
Arizona signed Geraldo Perdomo to a four-year, $45 million extension back in February, and the shortstop has rewarded that faith by ranking fifth among MLB position players with 2.4 fWAR through 41 games. The D-backs have moved Lawlar around the diamond in the PCL to escape Perdomo’s shadow. The majority of his starts have come at second base (17), while he’s sprinkled in more at third (eight) and stayed fresh at short (10).
That work became even more varied in May as he rotated between all three, getting two starts in a row at each position before moving one spot over to his left. Lovullo’s comments would indicate that the D-backs plan to continue to tap into Lawlar’s versatility, giving veteran players like Ketel Marte (who is coming off a left hamstring strain) and Eugenio Suárez more regular off-days. Lawlar’s athleticism and above-average arm strength can fit any of those positions.
This may be more of a Swiss Army-knife look than Arizona initially planned when it took Lawlar in the Draft four years ago, but it’s a plan to get its best Minor League talent into position to help the club return to the postseason after last year’s absence.