Baseball player Alek ThomasThomas playing for the Diamondbacks in 2023Arizona Diamondbacks – No. 5OutfielderBorn: (2000-04-28) April 28, 2000 (age 25)Tucson, Arizona, U.S.[1]Bats: LeftThrows: LeftMLB debutMay 8, 2022, for the Arizona DiamondbacksMLB statistics (through August 28, 2025)Batting erage.235Home runs28Runs batted in130Stolen bases23Stats at Baseball Reference Teams Arizona Diamondbacks (2022–present) Medals Men's baseball Representing United States U-18 Baseball World Cup 2017 Thunder Bay Team Representing Mexico World Baseball Classic 2023 Miami Team
Alek Thomas (born April 28, 2000) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022. He has played for the Mexico national baseball team.
Amateur career[edit]Thomas attended Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, Illinois. He committed to play both college baseball and college football at Texas Christian University.[2] During his high school career he hit .423 with 40 home runs and 158 runs batted in (RBIs).[3] He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.[4]
Professional career[edit]Thomas spent his first professional season with the Arizona League Diamondbacks and Missoula Osprey,[5] batting .333 with two home runs, 27 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 56 games between the two teams.[5] He started 2019 with the Kane County Cougars.[6][7][8] In July, he was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game.[9] In August, he was promoted to the Visalia Rawhide, with whom he finished the year.[10] Over 114 games between the two teams, Thomas slashed .300/.379/.450 with ten home runs, 55 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases.
Thomas did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] He began the 2021 season with the Amarillo Sod Poodles.[12] In June, Thomas was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game.[13] He was promoted to the Reno Aces in August.[14] Over 106 games between the two teams, he slashed .313/.394/.559 with 18 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 29 doubles.[15][16][17] He opened the 2022 season back with Reno, and hitting .277/.362/.495/.857 with 4 home runs and 14 RBI over 24 games.[18]
On May 8, 2022, Thomas was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[19] On May 11, he hit his first career home run off Sandy Alcántara of the Miami Marlins.[20]
In Game 4 of the 2023 National League Championship Series, Thomas hit a pinch-hit, game-tying two-run home run in the eighth inning to help propel the Diamondbacks to a 6–5 victory.[21]
International career[edit]Thomas represented the United States at the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup and Mexico at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[22] Thomas was named to the 2017 U-18 All-World Team after recording a .361 batting erage en route to a gold medal.[23]
Personal life[edit]Thomas' father Allen was the longtime strength and conditioning coach of the Chicago White Sox. His mother Marcella "has roots" in Sonora and Thomas has family in Agua Prieta.[22]
References[edit] ^ Cheshire, Catie. "Highly touted Tucson-born Diamondbacks prospect Alek Thomas excited for future". tucsonsentinel.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024. ^ Narang, Bob (February 11, 2017). "Mount Carmel's Alek Thomas commits to TCU for baseball, football". chicagotribune.com. ^ O’Brien, Tim (June 12, 2018). "Alek Thomas picks D-Backs over college". The Beverly Review. ^ Staff Report (June 4, 2018). "Mount Carmel's Alek Thomas selected by Arizona in second round of MLB draft". Chicago Sun-Times. ^ a b "Prospect Thomas enjoys whirlwind first year". MLB.com. ^ Johnson, Paul (April 2, 2019). "'None of that fazed me': Mount Carmel grad Alek Thomas already making noise with Kane County Cougars". chicagotribune.com. ^ Staff REPORTS (June 6, 2019). "Riding double-digit hit streak, Alek Thomas named Midwest League All-Star". Morganton.com | The News Herald. ^ Johnson, Paul (June 6, 2019). "'Hard work paying off': Kane County Cougars outfielder Alek Thomas named starter for Midwest League All-Star game". chicagotribune.com. ^ "Two Diamondbacks prospects selected for MLB's Futures Game". Arizona Sports. June 28, 2019. ^ "Diamondbacks' Alek Thomas: Promoted to High-A". CBSSports.com. August 3, 2019. ^ Adler, Did (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com. Retrieved February 9, 2025. ^ "Diamondbacks prospect Thomas excited for future". July 29, 2021. ^ "2021 Futures Game rosters". Mlb.com. June 30, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2021. ^ "Alek Thomas tearing it up at Triple-A level in Reno". September 22, 2021. ^ "Diamondbacks top prospects 2022: Outfielder Alek Thomas among interesting pieces in Arizona's rebuild". December 16, 2021. ^ "'Knocking down that door': Diamondbacks' prospect Alek Thomas nearing his arrival". ^ Buchanan, Zach (February 24, 2022). "The Alek Thomas era of Diamondbacks baseball is rapidly approaching: 'He's going to be knocking down that door soon'". The Athletic. Retrieved February 9, 2025. ^ Gilbert, Steve (May 8, 2022). "D-backs call up No. 1 prospect Alek Thomas". MLB.com. Retrieved May 8, 2022. ^ "D-backs calling up touted OF prospect Thomas". ESPN.com. May 8, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022. ^ "D-backs' top prospect belts Alek Thomas belts first career home run vs. Marlins". arizonasports.com. May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022. ^ Piecoro, Nick. "DBacks even NLCS with 3-run rally in 8th fueled by Alek Thomas, Gabriel Moreno". azcentral.com. Retrieved October 21, 2023. ^ a b Romero, José M. (March 10, 2023). "Diamondbacks' Alek Thomas is all in with Team Mexico at World Baseball Classic". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved March 20, 2023. ^ "2017 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup star Alek Thomas celebrates first MLB home run". World Baseball Softball Confederation. May 13, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2023. External links[edit] Career statistics from MLB · ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet vteArizona Diamondbacks current rosterActive roster 2 Geraldo Perdomo 4 Ketel Marte 5 Alek Thomas 6 Ildemaro Vargas 7 Corbin Carroll 8 James McCann 9 Blaze Alexander 10 Jordan Lawlar 12 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 14 Gabriel Moreno 19 Ryne Nelson 23 Zac Gallen 25 Adrian Del Castillo 27 Andrew Saalfrank 28 Tyler Locklear 31 Jake McCarthy 32 Brandon Pfaadt 40 Bryce Jarvis 41 Jake Woodford 43 Kyle Backhus 46 John Curtiss 52 Juan Burgos 55 Brandyn Garcia 57 Eduardo Rodríguez 68 Jalen Beeks -- Nabil Crismatt Inactive roster 1 Jorge Barrosa 13 Tim Tawa 24 Kyle Nelson 45 Yilber Díaz 54 Taylor Rashi 56 Andrew Hoffmann 65 Connor Kaiser 67 Juan Morillo 99 Drey Jameson -- Casey Kelly -- Gus Varland 15-day injured list 21 Anthony DeSclafani 26 Pin Smith 81 Ryan Thompson 60-day injured list 33 A. J. Puk 37 Kevin Ginkel 39 Corbin Burnes 47 Tommy Henry 48 Blake Walston 59 Christian Montes De Oca 63 Justin Martínez 64 Cristian Mena Restricted list 85 Joe Elbis Coaching staff Manager 17 Torey Lovullo Bench coach 82 Jeff Banister Hitting 74 Joe Mather Assistant hitting 73 Tris Denker Assistant hitting 75 Damion Easley Pitching 77 Brian Kaplan Assistant pitching 72 Owen Dew First base 36 De McKay Third base 71 Tim Bogar Infield 88 Shaun Larkin Bullpen 76 Wellington Cepeda Field coordinator 75 Rick Short vteMidwest League Most Valuable Player 1956: Deacon Jones 1957: none 1958: Gus Sancimino 1959: Joel McDaniel 1960: Thomas Haake 1961: Hector Cardenas 1962: Tony Torchia 1963–1974: none 1975: Willie Wilson 1976: Wayne Cato 1977: Paul Molitor 1978: Bill Foley 1979: De Stockstill 1980: Von Hayes 1981: Ed Saedra 1982: Tom Romano 1983: Curt Ford 1984: Joey Meyer 1985: Eddie Williams 1986: Luis Medina 1987: Greg Vaughn & Todd Zeile 1988: Lenny Webster 1989: Tom Redington 1990: Reggie Sanders 1991: Salomón Torres 1992: Steve Gibralter 1993: Joe Biasucci 1994: Sal Fasano 1995: Jesus Ibarra 1996: Larry Barnes 1997: Robert Fick 1998: Pablo Ozuna 1999: Aaron McNeal 2000: Albert Pujols 2001: Adrián González 2002: Jason Stokes 2003: Prince Fielder 2004: Brian Dopirak 2005: Carlos González 2006: Jeff Baisley 2007: Gorkys Hernández 2008: Ben Revere 2009: Dee Strange-Gordon & Kyle Russell 2010: Mike Trout 2011: Rymer Liriano 2012: Kevin Pillar 2013: Byron Buxton 2014: Wynton Bernard 2015: Ryan McBroom 2016: Eloy Jiménez 2017: Bo Bichette 2018: Elehuris Montero 2019: Alek Thomas 2020: none 2021: Andy Pages 2022: Christian Encarnacion-Strand 2023: Kala'i Rosario 2024: Cooper Ingle vteMexico roster – 2023 World Baseball Classic 1 Felipe González 2 Jarren Duran 3 Luis Urías 5 Alek Thomas 7 Julio Urías 11 Rowdy Tellez 13 Alan Trejo 14 JoJo Romero 15 Austin Barnes 16 Samuel Zazueta 19 Isaac Paredes 20 Wilmer Rios 23 Erubiel Armenta 24 José Cardona 27 Alex Verdugo 29 Óliver Pérez 32 Joey Meneses 33 Gerardo Reyes 38 Roberto Valenzuela 43 Patrick Sandoval 46 César Vargas 48 Jake Sanchez 49 Jesús Cruz 50 Manny Barreda 51 Alexis Wilson 53 Roel Ramírez 55 Adrián Martínez 56 Randy Arozarena 59 José Urquidy 62 Jonathan Aranda 65 Giovanny Gallegos 77 Jier Assad 82 Victor Castaneda 84 Alan Rangel 85 Luis Cessa 99 Taijuan Walker Manager 30 Benji Gil Coaches Bench Coach 9 Vinny Castilla Hitting Coach 18 Jacob Cruz Hitting Coach 70 Bobby Magallanes Pitching Coach 45 Elmer Dessens First Base Coach 12 Gil Velazquez Third Base Coach 21 Tony Perezchica Bullpen Coach 26 Horacio Ramírez Bullpen Pitcher 71 Ever Magallanes