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Brett Wallace Hoping Seventh Time’s the Charm

By Josh Sippie

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It seems like just yesterday I was seeing Brett Wallace sign an autograph for me. As the next big first baseman at the ripe young age of 23, I was elated to acquire such a soon-to-be priceless smudge of permanent marker. I was so upset when I accidentally gave the same ball to Tommy Manzella to sign. Surely that would hurt the value of the piece immensely.

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Now that ball is lost in my closet somewhere.

Brett Wallace has had quite the journey. After being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2005, where he never signed, the slugging left-hander was then drafted in the first round, thirteenth overall, by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2008. A year later he was sent to the Oakland A’s in a package deal that brought Matt Holliday to the Cards. Worked out for them.

A mere five months later, the A’s had shipped him to Toronto. Fast forward another seven months and the star prospect was being sent from Toronto to the Houston Astros for Anthony Gose, who is doing quite well these days.

It was with the Houston Astros that Brett Wallace made all of his Major League appearances – until lately that is. For the Astros, Wallace was given every opportunity imaginable to stick in the Majors. From 2010-2013 he made 1077 plate appearances, hitting .242 with 29 home runs and 102 RBIs. However, he struck out 318 times compared to just 80 walks.

It became painfully apparent that Brett Wallace just was not the answer the Astros were seeking. And so the journey began again. The Astros released Wallace in March of 2014 and he was scooped up the next day by the Baltimore Orioles. Four months later, the Toronto Blue Jays again came knocking at Brett Wallace’s door. They purchased him from their division rivals but only held onto him until he was granted free agency four months later.

Wallace then signed with the San Diego Padres this past Decemeber and wouldn’t you know it, at 28 years of age he has again found the Major Leagues.

Brett Wallace is such a confusing specimen. It appeared to be all a matter of confidence for him. He was a visibly gifted athlete as he could hit the cover off of the ball and his fluid swing was a joy to watch. However, no matter how much outstanding success he had in the Minors, he could never find prolonged success in the Majors. It came in spurts. As soon as it started going bad, it went awful.

Brett Wallace ended the 2012 season with the Astros hitting a respectable .253 with 9 home runs and 24 RBIs in 254 plate appearances. That is not the worst return from a 24-year old prospect.

However, the start of the 2013 season was a nightmare. Brett Wallace struck out 17 times in his first 22 at-bats and was sent back to Triple-A before he could blink. It was painfully obvious that Brett Wallace may not be what we had expected. Despite finishing the season with 13 home runs and 36 RBIs, his .221 average and over 33% strikeout rate was just too much to bear.

But now Brett Wallace is being given a fresh start with the San Diego Padres, where he has been reunited with Pat Murphy, his former coach at Arizona State where he wowed the world. If confidence is the problem, maybe Murphy can finally extract the star-power that Brett Wallace seemed undoubtedly to possess.

Wallace still has time to play and if it all goes right, maybe he can salvage what’s left of his career.

Next: Where does Tyson Ross stand?

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