D-backs' Thomas slugs 4th homer in 2-hit night

A quick glance at the numbers shows Alek Thomas enjoying a solid start to his 2022 campaign. A deeper dive shows something far better.

Baseball's No. 18 overall prospect was a catalyst from the two-hole in Triple-A Reno's lineup, homering, doubling and reaching base four times while scoring three runs in an 8-4 win over Round Rock at Greater Nevada Field.

Half of Thomas' four home runs have come in his last six games.

Thomas entered Thursday having hit safely in 11 of his previous 15 contests, but only three times in that span had he collected more than one hit. The 22-year-old walked and scored during the Aces' five-run opening frame and then added some muscle to the offense with his fourth roundtripper in the second. The 369-foot blast gave Thomas multiple RBIs in a game for the first time since April 20.

He added another walk and scored in the sixth before lining his eighth double of the season down the left-field line in the eighth. The performance improved Thomas' batting line to .278/.360/.505 with 13 extra-base hits, 19 runs and 13 RBIs in 23 games.

Perhaps more impressive than his overall offensive production is increased plate discipline. Thomas equaled a career high with 52 walks last year, resulting in a personal-best 10.2 percent walk rate. Through his first 111 plate appearances this season, the Chicago native has earned 12 free passes, or nearly 11 percent.

Thomas has little left to prove in the Minors, despite his return to Triple-A following a sizzling 34-game stint with the Aces to close out 2021. The 5-foot-11, 172-pounder batted .369 with a 1.092 OPS in 149 at-bats. Overall, he put together a .313/.394/.559 slash line with 18 homers, 59 extra-base hits, 86 runs and 59 RBIs in 106 games with Double-A Amarillo and Reno.

Arizona's second-round pick (63rd overall) in the 2018 Draft has yet to hit below .300 in any of his three previous professional seasons and carries a .309/.386/.496 batting line for his career.

Tommy Henry earned his first win of the season after working into the sixth inning for the second time in six starts. The No. 15 D-backs prospect allowed three runs, eight hits and struck out four without issuing a walk during his 94-pitch outing.

Round Rock was paced by 11th-ranked Texas prospect Sam Huff, who homered in his third consecutive game. The 24-year-old let loose a 109.7 mph rocket that went an estimated 473 feet. It was Huff's seventh home run of the season -- four of which have come since the calendar flipped to May.