Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Jordan Lawlar is expected to miss at least the first two months of the new season after undergoing surgery on his right thumb, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Lawlar ruptured a ligament on his thumb when he reached down barehanded and jammed his thumb attempting to pick up a ball.
Lawlar, 21, was the No. 6 selection in the 2021 draft. He made his big-league debut last season, batting .129/.206/.129 (-5 OPS+) across 14 games. Lawlar was recently ranked by CBS Sports as the No. 19 prospect in the minors. Here's what we wrote:
In some respects, Lawlar had a great season. He homered 20 times in just over 100 minor-league games en route to the majors, and he sliced into what had been a concerning strikeout rate. In other respects, his season left something to desire. Despite Lawlar's home-run total, his exit velocity marks in Triple-A were worse than you would have anticipated. He also had a forgettable big-league cameo, in which he went 4 for 31 with 11 strikeouts. Lawlar is a surefire defensive shortstop who showed an appreciable feel for the strike zone. He's going to play in the majors, likely for a long time. Those comparisons to Bobby Witt Jr. just might prove overzealous, is all.
Lawlar was slated to begin the season in Triple-A out of deference to Geraldo Perdomo, who authored a strong enough start to 2023 to make the All-Star Game.
Presuming Lawlar makes a full recovery by the summer, he could be in line to usurp Perdomo should the latter perform the way he did from May onward. Whereas Perdomo had an OPS over 1.000 in April, he subsequently recorded an OPS above .700 in just one other month -- that coming in May, when he checked in at .755.
The Diamondbacks will begin their season on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies.
