Jacob Wallace Brings a Power Arsenal and Command Issues to Kansas City

The Royals may have gotten a steal when they acquired Jacob Wallace from the Red Sox last week in exchange for Wyatt Mills. The “may have” comes with a sizable caveat, as the 24-year-old right-hander has big-time stuff, but also command issues. Pitching for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs this year, he walked 49 batters in 56.2 innings.

Wallace is overpowering when he’s in the strike zone, though. The 100th overall pick in 2019 — he was drafted by the Rockies out of the University of Connecticut, then swapped to Boston a year later in exchange for Kevin Pillar — fanned 76 batters and allowed just 35 hits. As Tess Taruskin and Kevin Goldstein wrote last spring, “It’s not too complicated: If he can throw more strikes, he has a path to the big leagues.”

Wallace, who prior to the trade was No. 23 in our Red Sox prospect rankings with a 40 FV, discussed his overpowering arsenal and his mother-influenced interest in pitching analytics late in the season.

———

David Laurila: Before we talk about your repertoire, you told me that your mother is big into analytics?

Jacob Wallace: “She reads and absorbs everything. She would tell me, ‘Oh, your FIP is this’ — all these numbers — and I’d be like, ‘Well, I have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m just out there playing.’ I’d know my ERA and the other basic stuff, but not the more advanced-stats. This was back in high school. Once I got to college and started learning more… I mean, it was really cool to realize how much she had already learned.”

Laurila: I’m guessing that your mother reads FanGraphs?

Wallace: “Yeah, I would say she does. She is a director of plant operations for [Proctor & Gamble], so numbers and learning are definitely things she definitely loves.”

Laurila: I haven’t seen you pitch, but on last night’s broadcast, [Sea Dogs radio voice] Emma Tiedemann said you were 96–97 [mph] with your fastball. Is that what you normally top out at?

Wallace: “I’ve actually gotten my four-seamer up to 99 this year. I’ll usually sit anywhere from six to seven and reach eight in most outings. The nines have been few and far between, but they’ve been there.”

Laurila: What is the movement profile on your four-seamer?

Wallace: “I get ride. We do 40-foot numbers here, and I get about 10-and-a-half, 11 [inches] vertical. If you translate that, it’s probably around 22–24. Horizontal, I get about six, which translates to 11 or 12. The movement is kind of two-plane and something I’ve kind of always had. It comes naturally from my arm slot. I get a good amount of spin on it, too, some good backspin. The spin efficiency on the Rapsodo is usually close to 100%.”

Laurila: Even with the arm-side movement you get?

Wallace: “Right. Coming out of my arm slot, with the axis, it holds true that way. It works for me, and again, it comes pretty natural.”

Laurila: What have you been working on?

Wallace: “A lot of stuff, especially mechanics-wise. I’ve been working on getting into my backside a little more… I’m doing things a little differently than back in spring training. Now I feel phenomenal. Now I’m just attacking the zone. Before, I would miss pitches because my arm wasn’t on time and my path wasn’t always the same. But things have started to click. For one thing, I’m more throwing it down the middle and just letting it play. My stuff is good enough that I can trust it. I can go into attack mode, saying, ‘Hey, here it is. Hit it. Good luck.’”

Laurila: Brandon Walter [No. 10 on our Red Sox prospects list, with a 45 FV] told me that he does that.

Wallace: “He’s unreal. I mean, he just throws it down the middle and everything just falls off the table or sweeps off the plate.”

Laurila: What is in your repertoire besides the four-seamer?

Wallace: “I have a cutter that I developed this year, a slider, and a changeup.
The changeup is… I mean, it’s not a power sinker, but it is a two-seam circle change that’s usually anywhere from 90 to 94. I throw it down and in to righties, trying to get the same action that I would if I were throwing a sinker. I’m not sure of the numbers off the top of my head, but I think it gets maybe about 10 horizontal — negative 10 horizontal — and it’s moving arm-side. The vert is around four or five. Again, those are 40-foot-numbers.”

Laurila: Which of your slider and cutter is the better pitch?

Wallace: “The cutter grades out better, just because it moves less and I’ve been able to throw it for more strikes. Our pitching grades are on a scale of 80, and I think it might be a 63 or a 65. The overall score gets a boost from bring able to locate it pretty well. Throwing more strikes has been a big goal.”

Laurila: What has your mix been like? Working out of the pen, you presumably prioritize your best pitches.

Wallace: “My fastball is probably around 65–70%. Recently I’ve been pretty fastball-cutter heavy. I’ve only thrown a few sliders and changeups.”

Laurila: Basically, you’re all about power.

Wallace: “I’ve kind of transitioned to that. I mean, even the slider is still a good power pitch. But the cutter has been good for me. I like going right after hitters. In order to be successful, I have to throw strikes.”