Aaron Blair

Position: RHP
Born: 5/26/1992
Height: 6'5
Weight: 230
B/T: R/R
Acquired: Via trade on December 8, 2015, along with INF Dansby Swanson and OF Ender Inciarte for RHP Shelby Miller (ATL). Originally drafted in the supplemental first round (36th overall) of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft (ARI).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts at Gwinnett (Triple-A), striking out 22 while walking five and allowing 10 hits over 19 innings.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Gwinnett April 24 when P Matt Marksberry was sent down.
MLB Debut Date: 4/24/2016

Debut Details
April 24, in a 3-2 loss to the Mets. The losing pitcher, he allowed three runs, all earned, in 5.1 IP, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out one batter. The first run came in the first inning when, after giving up singles to the first two batters he faced, Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera, put runners at the corners with no outs, Michael Conforto hit a foul ball to left field which Jace Peterson caught, but Granderson beat home for a somewhat rare foul sacrifice fly. Conforto would also drive Granderson home in the sixth inning with an RBI double, marking the end of Blair’s day. His third run would score, however, when reliever Alexi Ogando gave up a sacrifice fly to Lucas Duda, scoring Conforto.

Player Notes
Blair has zoomed up the prospect charts and right into the majors in his brief time since signing out of Marshall. The former ace for USA Baseball during the Pan Am Games, he combined to go 13-5 with a 2.92 ERA in 26 starts between the Diamondbacks’ affiliates at Mobile (Double-A) and Reno (Triple-A) in 2015, striking out 120 batters while walking 50 in 160 .1 IP and allowing 137 hits, limiting batters to a .233 BAA. He led the Arizona system in both innings pitched and BAA. A 2014 Arizona organization All-Star, he’d pitched at three levels in his first full season, going 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 154.1 IP at South Bend (Class A), Visalia (High A) and Mobile.

2080 Notes
Coming in at No. 76 on 2080 Baseball’s Preseason Top 125 Prospect Ranking List, C.J. Wittmann had this to say about Blair: “Blair profiles as a workhorse back-end starter thanks to his frame, average three-pitch arsenal, and solid-average command. His fastball and changeup grade above-average and his curveball came along in 2015.”