Vuch Report: Brett Wallace Breaks Out, Hits 3 HRs
JUPITER, Fla. — However the St. Louis Cardinals third base position shakes out at the major-league level, it seems certain that first-round pick Brett Wallace will begin this season at Class AA Springfield. Few think that he will stay there for long.
Though given barely a second glance at the major-league camp this spring, Wallace has clicked along at his usual 3-for-5, 2-for-5 pace during minor-league games. On Saturday, he broke loose.
Wallace, a third baseman, went 4-for-5 with three home runs and five RBIs. It was the first three-homer game for any Cardinal at any level this spring. He drove in half of Springfield’s runs in a 13-10 loss to Jacksonville — a high-scoring game that could speak to the conditions as well as the pitching. Still, three home runs are three home runs. Something to keep in mind as he starts his season in Double-A is how his power manifests. We’ve written about before how some players are able to leap from the Texas League to the major leagues — Troy Tulowitzki, for example — but one trait they all share beyond the bat is a glove that is good enough to see them through some slumps at the big-league level.
Tulowitzki, for example, could work out his offense at the major-league level because his glove was good enough to keep him in the lineup. Could Wallace be the opposite? Could his bat be good enough to keep him in the lineup if his glove hits a slump? That’s a tough call …
Elsewhere in Saturday’s Vuch Report, where Wallace was the only the big-bonus prospect to homer …
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Memphis 5, New Orleans 2
– Clayton Mortensen started and had a line of 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks. … Lefty Ian Ostlund found some footing with two scoreless innings and a one hit allowed and one strikeout. … Charlie Manning followed with a line of 1.2 IP, 1H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 Ks. … Royce Ring, making his first game appearance since accepting his assignment to the minors, had this line: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
– Second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir went 3-for-4 with a double and RBI. … Tyler Greene went 3-for-4 with a run scored and stolen base. … Nick Stavinoha was 2-for-4 with a walk.
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Jacksonville 13, Springfield 10
– Brandon Dickson had a line of 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. … Eddie Degerman, the former Rice starter with the quirky extreme-over-the-top delivery, had a gruesome line of 1 IP, 1H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 Ks. … Trey Hearne followed with two scoreles innings that included one walk and three strikeouts. … Ken Maiques struggled in 2/3 of an inning: 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. … Francisco Samuel pitched one scoreless inning.
– For the hitters besides Wallace, Daniel Descalso was 2-for-3 with a double, run scored and a RBI. … Tony Cruz went 2-for-3 with a double, a home runs and three RBIs. … Antonio DeJesus, Daryl Jones, Andrew Brown and Brandon Buckman all had a single each.
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Palm Beach 13, Jupiter 5
– Lefty Nick Additon had that the start, and posted a line of 2.2 IP , 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks. … Ryan Kulik, who is rather quietly having an interesting camp that could put his name on the radar, had a line of 3 IP, 1 BB, 3 Ks. … Thomas Eager: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 K. … Davis Bilardello: 1 IP, 1 H, and Casey Mulligan: 1 IP, 1H
– Adron Chambers, mentioned in the previous blog entry today, went 3-for-5 with a double and 3 runs scored. … Curt Smith, mentioned everyday in the Vuch Report and no hitting an unformed .843 went 3-for-4 with a run and RBI. … Tommy Pham tripled twice and had 3 RBIs. … Seeing a lot of the same names come up repeatedly at this level, especially with the performances this weekend. … UCLA alum Jermaine Curtis was 3-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs. … Francisco Rivera doubled … Oliver Marmol singled and walked in his two plate appearances.
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Greensboro 6, Quad Cities #1 2
– George Brown pitched to a line of 2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 Ks. … Hector Cardenas followed with 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1K. … Chuckie Fick: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 Ks. … Matt Frevert: 1 IP, 1 K. … Jorge Rondon: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
– Leading the hitters for the QC, Chris Swauger went 2-for-3 and Osvaldo Morales was 2-for-4 with two doubles. … Xavier Scruggs was 2-for-4 with one of the hits being a double. … Edwin Gomez and Ryde Rodriguez had RBI singles. … Paul Cruz and Alex Castellanos also had singles.
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Quad Cities #2 7, Marlins 5th club, 2
– Kevin Thomas paced the pitchers with three shutout, hitless innings. He walked two and struck out one. … Anthony Ferrara had a line of 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks. … Jason Buursma went 1.1 IP with 1 K. … Daniel Richardson had a line of 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB. … And Santo Maertz pitched a perfect 2/3 innings.
– Brett Lilley doubled twice and walked twice. … Brian Buck went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs. … Beau Riportella hit a two-run HR. … Travis Mitchell, the St. Louis native, had another multi-hit game with a couple singles. … International free-agent signing Roberto DeLaCruz, a massive teen, hit a long solo homer to left field that cut through the wind. … Jarred Bogany, Jairo Martinez, Michael Swinson and Ivan Castro all singled
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Now that we seem to have a decent minor league system once again,fans are going to have to get used to seeing good players down in the minors who have good seasons — sometimes outstanding seasons — but can’t break into the ML lineup. It’s a sign of a good, well-run club, not of a scheming management or a heartless skipper….
Wallace’s bat is ready now. He’d have no problem being a productive hitter in a big league lineup this season, in my opinion. The concerns with how he would defend third base are the only thing holding him back from making it the major leagues.
Most reports on Wallace I’ve read, say that he is actually a much better athlete than many see him as. And, he’s familiar with left field, as he played there for team USA this past season … I think he ends up an outfielder.
He is ready. Find a fit for him defensively, and get this guys bat up here, as soon as possible.
Wallace may be “ready” in terms of ability, but I think they’d like him to have more than 202 professional at-bats under his belt before he does get called up…
I think TLR has the right read on Wallace. He was hardly given a glance this spring by TLR because he needs more time to “pay dirt” and earn his ticket to the bigs. TLR’s approach has to be employed because of the other deserving players who have put in qualified time and merited promotion to the big league club. TLR also does not want to create any unnecessay poisoned chemistry on the club that might occur if Wallace was to be cashed in on the big club while deserving others had to bide their time before they were appropriately promoted. If Wallace has a good summer in the minor leagues, the hype he will get and has received already will bring him on the big league scene in September,(or possibly earlier if enough big leaguers succumb to injury). TLR does not want to spoil a good
thing(s).
Wallace will play 1st base when Albert moves on to the RED Sox or Angels when his contract is up.