A 2018 graduate of Mount Carmel High School in Chicago, Ill….played baseball, football and basketball...Named 2017 Gatorade Illinois Baseball Player of the Year after batting .470 with five triples, 11 home runs, 43 RBI and 59 runs in 35 games...Played quarterback, running back and wide receiver for Frank Lenti, the winningest high school football coach in Illinois history…ranks among the school's Top 20 list in both passing and receiving yards...Listed by Baseball America as the No. 1 MLB draft prospect from Illinois and 57th overall in 2018...Committed to Texas Christian University to play both football and baseball...Selected to play in the annual Double Duty Classic hosted by the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, an event which celebrates the history and traditions of Negro League Baseball and showcases the next generation of inner-city baseball players...Was a member of Team USA's gold-medal winning 2017 18U Team at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, Ontario (Canada)...Teammates included Jarred Kelenic, Kumar Rocker and Brice Turang...Dad, Allen, was the White Sox' Director of Strength and Conditioning from 2004-21, which led to Alek being a mainstay in the Chicago clubhouse...In August 2024, helped host "Fun at Bat" supported locally by Whataburger at Palm Lane Elementary to take over a P.E. class and help teach students the game of baseball...Has served multiple times as Celebrity Coach in the D-backs' Superstar Baseball Camp @ Chase Field for players ages 7-12...Helped deliver 150 new bikes and helmets to underprivileged kids at the Boys and Girls Club in June 2022, sponsored by Blue Sky Pest Control and the Phoenix Fire Dept.
2024
Limited to 39 games with the D-backs after two stints on the injured list...hit .189 (18-for-95)/.603 OPS with five doubles, one triple, three homers, 17 RBI, seven walks and four stolen bases...Did not commit an error in 237 innings and was 57-for-57 in outfield putout chances...Went 4-for-5 in stolen base attempts...Made his second Opening Day roster and first Opening Day start...Had a multi-hit game in his first Opening Day start, going 2-for-5 with one double and one RBI...Posted a .500 SLG in his first four games, with one double, one homer and four RBI...Placed on the 10-day injured list from April 1-July 2 (strained left hamstring)...Hit safely in 9 of his 12 starts from July 2-22… posted a .693 OPS with three doubles, two homers, nine RBI and three walks in the span...Hit .385 (5-for-13)/1.429 OPS with two doubles, two homers and 11 RBI with runners in scoring position over his first 12 starts following the injury...Optioned to Triple-A Reno on Aug. 13…was placed on the 7-day IL (strained right oblique) from Aug. 19-Sept. 17...Recalled on Sept. 26 and appeared in two games...In 16 games with the Aces, hit .286 (18-for63)/.778 with four doubles, two homers, 12 RBI and five RBI.
2023
Hit .230 (86-for-374) with 17 doubles, five triples, nine homers, 39 RBI and 19 walks over 125 games in his second season with Arizona...Made his first Opening Day roster...Ranked ninth in the Majors among center fielders in defensive runs saved with five [source: the fielding bible]...Was second on the team with 278 OF putouts, behind Corbin Carroll's 293… tied for second in OF assists (5) with Carroll, behind Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (8)...Finished 9-for-10 in stolen base attempts (90.0)...Went 4-for-8 (.500) as a pinch-hitter with one triple and one RBI...Recorded the second four-hit effort of his career on April 8 vs. the Dodgers, going 4-for-4 with a triple and RBI (also: Aug. 30, 2022 vs. the Phillies)...Hit his longest homer of the season on April 19 at St. Louis (432 ft.), matching his career best set in 2022...Homered in consecutive days for the first time in his MLB career on June 8-9...Recorded a career-high five RBI on Sept. 6 vs. Rockies after going 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and walk...In 26 games with Triple-A Reno, hit .348 (39-for-112)/.927 OPS with six doubles, two triples, three homers, 31 RBI and 12 walks.
POSTSEASON: Batted .222 (12-for-54) with one double, four homers, six RBI, four walks and two stolen bases in 17 games...His four homers were tied with Gabriel Moreno for the team lead and most by a D-back in a single Postseason…was one shy of tying Chris Young's franchise record for most career Postseason homers with 5...In Game 4 of the NLCS vs. Philadelphia, became the fourth D-back in club history to deliver a pinch-hit homer in the Postseason and the ninth player in MLB history with a game-tying, pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning or later of a Postseason game…at 23 years old, became the youngest player to do so...Homered in Games 4 and 5 of the NLCS, marking the second time in the Postseason where he homered in consecutive games (also: NLWC Game 2 at Milwaukee and NLDS Game 1 in Los Angeles)…became the first in franchise history to homer in consecutive games twice in a Postseason and was the fourth and fifth instance of consecutive Postseason homers by a D-back.
WBC: Played for Team Mexico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and helped lead them to the semifinals against eventual champs, Japan…started five games in center field and batted .200 (4-for-20) with one walk and two stolen bases…ranked second on the team with six runs scored, behind Randy Arozarena (8).
2022
Hit .231 (88-for-381) with 17 doubles, one triple, eight homers, 39 RBI, 22 walks and four stolen bases over 112 games (all in CF) in his first season with Arizona...Ranked among NL rookies in doubles (T-sixth), hits (seventh), total bases (ninth, 131), runs (T-eighth, 45) and RBI (ninth)...Selected from Triple-A Reno on May 8 and made his MLB debut vs. Rockies…recorded his first hit (double off Germán Márquez) in his second at-bat...Hit his first career home run on May 11 vs. Marlins (solo off Sandy Alcántara)...Collected his first two-homer performance on June 3 @ Pirates, becoming the second-youngest D-back with a multi-homer game...Had a 12-game hitting streak from June 8-20...Optioned to Reno on Sept. 26 and hit .643 (9-for-14) with three doubles and five RBI in his final three games of the season...Hit .322 (37-for-115)/.936 OPS with 11 doubles, one triple, four homers, 19 RBI and five stolen bases over 27 games with the Aces...Entered the season rated by MLB Pipeline as D-backs No. 1 prospect (18th overall)…rated No. 3 by Baseball America (32nd overall) and graded Best Defensive Outfielder...Was a finalist for the NL Rawlings Gold Glove Award® in 2022 (CF)...His six defensive runs saved in center field was tied for fourth best in the NL and six Outs Above Average was the 5th highest total among NL center fielders.
2021
Named the D-backs' Minor League Player of the Year and named to MLB Pipeline's First-Team "Prospect Team of the Year" after hitting .313 (136-for435)/.953 OPS with 29 doubles, 12 triples, 18 home runs and 59 RBI over 106 games with Double-A Amarillo and Triple-A Reno...Ranked second among all Minor Leaguers in triples…led all D-backs' farmhands in hits, triples, extra-base hits (59), total bases (243) and runs (86)...Following his promotion to Reno on Aug. 16, finished Top 10 in Triple-A in total bases (1st, 98), hits (2nd, 55), extra-base hits (T-2nd, 23), triples (T-2nd, 4), average (3rd, .369), OPS (3rd, 1.092), slugging (4th, .658) and OBP (7th, .434)...Collected a season-high 4 hits on 4 occasions… finished the season on a 13-game hitting streak (.466; 27-for-58)...Began the year rated by MLB.com as the D-backs' No. 4 prospect and No. 5 by Baseball America…also cited by Baseball America as the fifth-best prospect in Triple-A West after the season.
2020
Spent the entire season at the D-backs' Alternate Site…also participated in Arizona's fall Instructional League.
2019
Hit .300 with 23 doubles, seven triples, 10 home runs, 55 RBI and 15 stolen bases over 114 games with Single-A Kane County and Single-A Adv. Visalia...Named Midwest League Player of the Week for July 1-7 (.500; 10-for-23)…notched a season-high 5 hits on July 2 @ Peoria and hit for the cycle on July 3 @ Peoria...Named to Baseball America's Low-A All-Star Team and a Midwest League mid-and postseason All-Star...Entered the season as the D-backs No. 7 prospect by MLB.com and No. 8 by Baseball America…named as the ML's Best Defensive Outfielder following the season.
