Time waits for no man, besides Jordan Lawlar, who’s been on the cusp of main league stardom for about 4 years.
The thin on Lawlar as a prospect — the place he topped out at a 60-FV grade in 2024 and 2025 — is that he carries the potential for plus energy and plus shortstop protection with a plus-plus run device. That’s lots of pluses for an up-the-middle place, which is why the Diamondbacks spent a top-10 choose on him out of highschool in 2021.
He performed properly sufficient to make Arizona’s playoff roster on the run to the 2023 NL pennant (although he didn’t play a lot, going 0-for-2 with a stroll), and the 2 full seasons since have seen Lawlar’s path blocked each by his personal accidents and the emergence of Geraldo Perdomo as a bona fide star.
Even so, Lawlar is the form of expertise you both commerce for an enormous return or discover a huge league residence for. Shortstop prospects who see their path to the majors blocked most continuously find yourself at second base; Arizona GM Mike Hazen felt out the commerce marketplace for Ketel Marte this winter however didn’t like what he noticed. If something, second base is much more blocked than shortstop for the time being.
How about third base, then? What do Manny Machado, Alex Bregman, and José Ramírez have in widespread, aside from a bunch of top-five MVP finishes? All of them may’ve been shortstops had their groups not had a greater possibility on the place. (Admittedly, this construction flatters J.J. Hardy, however he actually may choose it again within the day.)
For many of final yr, the Snakes had a killer third baseman, Eugenio Suárez, however he’s now not there. The truth is, the primary time it occurred to me that somebody apart from Lawlar would play third base for the Diamondbacks in 2026 was the second they traded for Nolan Arenado, or what’s left of him.
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We transfer on. To middle subject, apparently, which is the place the Diamondbacks have resolved to play Lawlar for the foreseeable future.
On Saturday, Lawlar made his first main league look in middle subject, and it went properly. He went 1-for-2 with a stroll and a house run on the plate, and made a clear play on the one ball hit in his route: a first-inning fly ball from Ezequiel Tovar. It was the form of play you’d anticipate an infielder to make (or a pitcher, or an athletic coach), however up to now, so good.
I’ve two questions relating to Lawlar’s transfer to middle subject: First, can he do it? Second, is it a good suggestion in the long run?
So far as Lawlar’s capability to play middle subject, I’ve little doubt about his bodily instruments. Whereas the orthodox transfer would’ve been third base, the shortstop-to-center subject path has been well-traveled. Jackson Merrill did positive. So did Mickey Mantle.
Lawlar completely has the pace for the place; he hit 30 ft/sec in dash pace final yr, placing him in capital-e Elite territory. A shift to middle subject would possibly really deliver out the perfect in Lawlar. Certainly one of Eric Longenhagen’s few gripes about Lawlar’s protection was his tendency to make awkward throws on the run, particularly off his backhand. He received the job carried out, it simply appeared slightly janky.
Right here I’ll add one other perception I picked up from Eric once we have been watching a World Baseball Traditional recreation collectively just a few years in the past. He was speaking about how significantly better Mookie Betts’ throwing arm performed in proper subject than it did on the infield.
The numbers over the previous few years bear that out; Betts was a plus arm power man in proper, however whereas he’s been an excellent defender at shortstop total, he’s a bit noodle-armed on the dust. That’s as a result of infielders should launch the ball shortly and sometimes off-balance, whereas outfielders largely throw both whereas charging the ball or after setting their toes. Betts specifically benefited enormously from a secure throwing platform.
That is smart should you’ve ever watched an excellent left-side infielder for greater than a pair innings. (Right here I’ll point out once more my principle that, like, 40% of what makes Patrick Mahomes among the finest quarterbacks of all time is stuff he discovered as a high-level third base prospect.) I don’t know if Lawlar will take to the outfield the identical means, however perhaps having that further fraction of a second to arrange will take his arm from good to transcendent.
The remainder of the defensive stuff will all should be discovered: reads, positioning, footwork. That comes simpler to some outfielders than others, and it’s affordable to anticipate some rising pains. Up till final weekend, the sum complete of Lawlar’s non-infield recreation expertise was three video games in final yr’s Dominican Winter League. We must be affected person right here.
On the identical time, I’m selecting to imagine that Lawlar can study to play middle subject till he proves in any other case. It’s the one assumption to make, primarily based on his capability at shortstop.
How helpful that bat will probably be is an actual query. First, Lawlar has to remain on the sphere, after struggling accidents to his shoulder, ribs, scapula, thumb, and hamstring over a five-year skilled profession. A few of these have been freak acute accidents, however any checklist of bodily illnesses that lengthy goes to include no less than a pair troubling persistent points. Maybe he’ll profit from leaving the infield behind on this respect.
Lawlar was barely out of the womb in 2023 and missed most of 2024 as a consequence of harm, however he received 28 video games within the huge leagues in 2025 and didn’t cowl himself in glory: .182/.257/.288 with a 35.1% strikeout price. Sure, that’s a tiny pattern, nevertheless it’s an information level. His first prolonged encounter with main league pitching was a complete defeat. And even the rosy scouting experiences on him present lots of swing-and-miss.
However not sufficient swing-and-miss to represent a purple flag. The in-zone contact numbers are on the low finish of regular. Particularly for an up-the-middle man who hit .300 with 20-homer energy and a double-digit stroll price nearly in all places he went within the minor leagues. I don’t see a particular purpose why Lawlar can’t hit huge league pitching. He simply has to show he can do it.
So is middle subject the perfect place for Lawlar? And are the Diamondbacks greatest served by placing him there?
Lawlar’s bat would’ve been most useful at shortstop; clearly he gained’t be wanted there so long as Perdomo’s round. However the distinction is minimal between offensive expectations at third base and offensive expectations at middle subject. If something, Lawlar may be extra helpful in middle, the place the league-wide wOBA was three factors decrease in 2025. Add on the likelihood that his arm would possibly play up on the market and the decrease bodily toll would possibly do the injury-prone Lawlar good, and this looks as if the fitting transfer.
Even should you suppose the Diamondbacks are losing their time with Arenado at third base, they nonetheless have each Marte and Perdomo below workforce management by 2030 and one other High 100 infield prospect, Tommy Troy, on the verge of main league readiness. That infield logjam just isn’t getting any much less crowded anytime quickly.
In the meantime, the Diamondbacks do want a middle fielder. Their proper subject scenario is likely one of the greatest in baseball, or no less than it is going to be as soon as Corbin Carroll grows a brand new hamate bone. Left subject is fairly dire for the time being, however high prospect Ryan Waldschmidt is in main league camp, and perhaps Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s bat will heal across the identical time his ACL does. However Lawlar has an opportunity to be a middle fielder who makes authentic contributions on each side of the ball. These guys don’t develop on bushes.
I feel it’s honest to ask if the Diamondbacks could be higher off within the quick time period placing Lawlar in left and Alek Thomas in middle, quite than the opposite means round. There’s an opportunity Lawlar won’t transition to the outfield properly — no less than not immediately — and principally the one factor Thomas has going for him is his glove.
However the Diamondbacks aren’t going to win a division as robust because the NL West by taking small swings like that. Lawlar won’t work in middle. He won’t hit in any respect. But when he does, that’s a possible star, just like the Padres have in Merrill. Possibly even higher. The upside for that place is such that, if the Diamondbacks suppose Lawlar’s future is in middle, he ought to get each rep obtainable as quickly as doable. Both he’ll study the place sooner, or the Diamondbacks will know sooner that they should go to Plan (counts on fingers) E for his future.
Or he can spend one other yr on the verge of claiming a serious league job. We’ve waited this lengthy, in any case.