Baltimore Orioles utility infielder Blaze Alexander has enjoyed a breakout season in his first year with the team, but he'll miss a large portion of the remainder of the season.
Alexander, 27, was hit by a 95.5 mile-per-hour fastball from Kansas City Royals reliever Lucas Erceg and subsequently suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left hand. Alexander's recovery timetable will be determined during the All-Star break, manager Craig Albernaz said.
The hit-by-pitch caused some controversy in the moment, and on social media the day after.
Alexander had some words for Erceg directly after being hit, causing both benches to clear. There was no fighting, but it was clear that Alexander was frustrated. The utility man was 2-2 on the day which raised his slash line to .312/.368/.439 on the season. In his third big-league year, he's already surpassed his single-season career best number in hits, stolen bases, and RBIs.
After the game, Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino told the media he believed the pitch was unintentional.
"We had some up-and-in pitches the other day," Pasquantino said. "To be honest, that's a guy who's hitting over .300 and is feeling good about himself that feels the need, when he gets hit, that he can say something. So credit to him for feeling good about himself like that."
"But he's clearly not," the first baseman continued. "It's a 1-2 count. We're trying to get outs. We're not trying to give away free baserunners. I think that's a bad baseball mindset, personally, because why would we hit a guy right there? It's just common sense...but he feels good about what he's doing right now, and credit to him, he's been having a really good year. That was my perspective on it."
The following day - the first of the All-Star Break - Alexander responded in a quote tweet.
"Weird take," he wrote. "Never throught it was intentional, but the 2 quick pitches to try and catch me off guard led to me now missing games. Thanks for the compliments tho Big Foot 👍."
Weird take.. Never thought it was intentional but the 2 quick pitches to try and catch me off guard led to me now missing games. Thanks for the compliments tho Big Foot👍🏼 https://t.co/qtS9EJkGaj
— Blaze Alexander (@BAlexander52) July 13, 2026
The "Big Foot" reference is a jab at Pasquantino's "Pasquatch" nickname.
As mentioned previously, the Alexander's injury timetable will come at a later date - he has not yet been placed on the IL.
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