Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com is rolling out his Top 50 prospect list, and has Brett Wallace at # 42. With his report, there’s a video of him in action.
Ryan Fagan of Yahoo! has some scout talk on the Walrus as well.
“Let’s put it this way: If he was a better third baseman, I think we’d be talking about him being ready for a starting job this spring. He’s that good…Problem is, defensively he’s a question mark. His agility, actually, is OK for as big as he is. He’s a pretty agile guy. He makes good plays—he can dive for the ball, pop up and get the throw to first—but when you’re projecting him, he’s not going to get any smaller and he’s not going to get any faster. He’s at least average at third at 22, but is he going to be OK at 26 or 28? And his throwing arm is OK. He doesn’t have a classic third baseman’s rocket arm. He can get it over there, but it’s not the ‘Oh, wow’ that you want at third base.
He can hit, but he might not be able to stay at third base. You don’t say.
Tony Cruz makes BA’s Hawaiian League Top 20 on a technicality. In their print edition they actually have someone else, but then they realized the player they ranked threw 7.2 innings. I guess it’s better to be ranked because of a goof than to not be ranked at all. It’s subscriber content.
Ben Badler gives us some context on the Arizona Fall League. The league average slash line was .293/.365/.473, so yeah, I’d say it was a hitter’s league. Steve Hill led the Cards with an OPS+ of 133. Wallace was next with 128, followed by Tyler Greene at 111, and Robinson brings up the rear with 89.
If the Cards get outbid on LOOGY’s this winter, they easily could land one in the Rule 5 draft.
Jon Jay and Allen Craig are in a dead heat for the # 14 spot at Bird Land, so be sure to vote. That is a tough call.
Here’s how some of the Cardinal prospects are faring in the Caribbean Leagues:
- Bryan Anderson is hitting for a bizarre .240/.406/.240 in 25 at bats for Jose Oquendo’s Carolina Gigantes.
- His battery mate P.J. Walters is an oddity of his own. In 19.1 innings, he has 24 K’s to 7 walks but has allowed 28 hits and is sporting an ERA of 6.52.
- Luke Gregerson finally allowed a run. In 17.1 innings, he has an ERA of 0.52, with 13 K’s to 2 walks and 13 hits allowed. Gregerson’s pitching in Venezuela for the Margarita Braves.
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Didn’t Future Redbirds ask us to come up with a new nickname for Brett when he was quoted as saying he hated being called the Walrus? I don’t much like it much either for one of my favorite prospects, but especially don’t like it if the player in question says he hates it himself.
Are there really 41 prospects better than Brett Wallace? Somehow I don’t see that. I know he has only played about half a season of pro ball but it was a pretty damn impressive half season…I think at the very worst he is in the 20’s range, but I am a little biased…
I had read before about Vivas being suspended so this article from BA was nothing new, but the last line kinda seemed odd:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=1812
“The 19-year-old native of Venezuela, who signed with St. Louis in February 2007, batted .158/.250/.184 in 114 at-bats in the VSL in 2009.”
First off, if you are taking a performance enhancer and only hitting .158 something is wrong. Secondly he has some sort of super power since he hit that in 2009. Thirdly, who has ever listed this kid as a prospect? This is the first I have seen of him, though he is 19 so he might have just been hidden in the VSL box scores.
Yeah, I’d take Wally over Freddie Freeman and Nick Adenhart, for sure.
sign me up for Ryan Mullins in the Rule V. Here are his splits from AA last year:
Left-Handed Batters: .204 AVG, 0.88 WHIP, 1.45 BB/9, 12.8 LD%
Right-Handed Batters: .314 AVG, 1.72 WHIP, 4.24 BB/9, 17.9 LD%
The Cards jumped McClellan from AA right to the big club pen in 2008. One of the biggest needs on the club is loogy. But some team ahead of us is probably thinking the same thing.
Yeah, I’m working on a post previewing the Rule V. Several decent options out there, no need to overpay for aging lefty specialists.
yonder alonso a better propect than wallace…maybe i am being a homer…but really?
He was a higher draft pick and was higher on most draft boards, so I don’t have a major problem with Alonso being ranked higher.
I agree about Mullins. Just look at his splits and don’t tell me he can’t be a good LOOGY. Plus he’s 6′6″ and a southpaw. Where do I signup?
Anybody think that Nick Additon will be more than a loogy in the majors leagues, or does he have enough velocity to get major league hitter out?
He doesn’t have velocity to get AAA hitters out. Try 81-84 MPH, or at least that was what he was around when I saw him.
Additon throws harder than 81-84. I saw him pitch a few times and top out at 89 and sit 84-87. He sure as hell throws harder than Fiske who I read reports was 79-83 in the AFL
Proposal for Wallace’s new nick:
Marble Cat (do I have to explain this?)
RBI (that’s what he’s gonna do)
XBrett (reference to all the XBs he’ll hit)
#4 (batting order whre he’ll hit)
GO CARDS!!!
WALLACE:
D-wall
William Wallace. The guys at Busch Stadium will have plenty of video and sound clips from Braveheart to use when he comes to the plate.
How about The Hitman
“Legs” Wallace
“Juggernaut” Wallace
MBT Wallace (Main Battle Tank)
B-Wall
Terminator
Balls to the Wallace
Trunk
But my favorite so far is William Wallace. The possibilities are endless with this one.
He’ll always be Walrus to me. You don’t get to pick your own nickname. Though William is pretty good…
William Walrus, maybe? because nothing strikes fear into another team like an enormous aquatic mammal in a kilt.
If you can, call in tonight on UCB radio. Would like your take on Card prospects wherever they’ve hit your radar.
@ chetthejet I will be calling around 9:30, if that isn’t too late.
As for Wally’s nickname, rather than the Hit Man, how about “the Hit Manatee”?
Alright, seriously. If we’re worried about the Walrus, I can’t imagine changing it to Sea Cow is moving in the right direction.
Call him what you will … I will now picture a manatee with a bat. Besides, my childhood already has Bret “The Hitman” reserved for wrestling.
Sea Cow? Manatee! Manatee!
Anytime I see his name, the only thing I can think of is the kid from the Geico commercials, Warren (Lauren?) Wallace. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t go fishing with the man.” “The story ends with me putting him in the wall.”