Methuen's Wallace made big strides in first year with Sox

Nov. 29—Playing for the Boston Red Sox has always been Jacob Wallace's dream.

Ever since his days starring for Methuen High baseball, Wallace rooted for the Red Sox and hoped to one day suit up for his hometown club. So imagine his delight when he learned that not only were the Red Sox trading for him, but they were shipping big league outfielder Kevin Pillar to the Rockies in exchange.

"That was awesome. That was some of the best news I've ever got in my life," said Wallace, who starred at UConn before the Colorado Rockies selected him in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft. "That's the dream right there, my entire childhood dream come to life."

Getting the opportunity was just the start, now he had to make the most of it. and having only played rookie ball before the pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league season, Wallace found he faced a steep learning curve when he finally arrived this spring for his first full season of professional ball.

Wallace's first year with the Red Sox was a roller coaster. The organization tossed him straight into the deep end by assigning him to High-A Greenville — a significant jump in competition from anything he'd experienced before — and initially he struggled to adapt. His first two months were a grind, and his struggles continued well into the summer before he finally turned things around down the stretch.

"The season didn't start out the best," Wallace said. "But I felt like I was prepared in what I had done prior to that and I stuck with it, and powered through some struggles and kind of stuck with it and made it out the other side doing really well."

Getting to that point wasn't easy. Wallace posted a 10.00 ERA with four home runs allowed in nine innings in May, and then in June he lost his command and walked 10 batters in 11.2 innings. He continued allowing runs at a concerning rate through July before the tide finally started turning in August.

Over the last two months of the year Wallace had a 3.00 ERA over 18 innings and posted 34 strikeouts against seven walks. His WHIP over the last two months was a minuscule 0.888, and opponents hit .142 with a .424 OPS, numbers much more reflective of the future late-inning reliever the Red Sox hope he can become.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said the team was happy with Wallace's progress while noting that his early struggles weren't unusual given how many minor leaguers didn't play in 2020.

"We challenged him with a fairly aggressive assignment," Bloom said. "He was new to our organization and new to a lot of things and didn't get a chance to pitch the year prior. In many ways it was a lot thrown at him quickly.

"I do think at the outset his stuff looked good, I think there were a lot of things happening that made you think he was better than the numbers he was putting up, but he was unable to find that consistency," Bloom continued. "Then as the year went on we saw it come in more and more, not without further bumps in the road, but with a good trend line."

Overall Wallace finished 2021 with a 5.92 ERA in 48.2 innings, but even taking the bad start into account his 76 strikeouts and 14.1 strikeouts per nine were eye opening. Though the 23-year-old is likely still a couple of years away from the majors, his 98 mph fastball and filthy slider both have big league potential.

"His arm strength and arm speed are exemplary, he has some of the best velocity in the system and his slider he throws with a really high spin rate, borderline elite," said Ian Cundall of SoxProspects.com, which currently has Wallace ranked as the No. 40 prospect in the organization. "He's definitely someone I would put a major league grade on."

Wallace also recently added a changeup, which he said will help keep batters guessing even if he doesn't have a feel for one of his two primary pitches on a given day.

"I developed that myself throughout COVID, that offseason I really wanted to make it so I had a third pitch," Wallace said. "I wanted to be able to advance my repertoire a little bit and by the end of the season it was a big factor in my game."

In all likelihood Wallace will start next season at Double-A Portland, and if he continues to progress he could put himself in position to make the 40-man roster ahead of next winter's Rule 5 Draft.

Then, it might only be a matter of time before his Red Sox dream truly does come true.

Yaz part of historic Giants season

A few years ago Andover's Mike Yastrzemski was toiling in the minor leagues unsure if his big league call-up would ever come. Now the former St. John's Prep star has three years of big league action under his belt and played a major role in one of the greatest seasons in the 139-year history of the San Francisco Giants.

This season Yastrzemski served as San Francisco's starting right fielder as the Giants won a franchise record 107 games to win a hotly contested NL West title. Though he wasn't quite the MVP candidate he was in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Yastrzemski still hit 25 home runs with 71 RBI and was a Gold Glove finalist.

Now the 31-year-old is in line for a big raise.

Arbitration eligible for the first time in his career, Yastrzemski is projected to earn $3.1 million next season according to MLB Trade Rumors, which would be a nice bump from the roughly $1.2 million he's earned in three big league seasons thus far. Giants beat writers have also suggested that Yastrzemski could potentially receive a contract extension, which would give both him and the team added certainty heading into 2022 and beyond.

Moving on up!

North Andover's Max Burt made a big push up through the New York Yankees system this summer, earning a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. The former St. John's Prep and Northeastern University standout started the year in Single-A and was almost immediately promoted to Double-A before earning another big call-up by August.

He wasn't the only local to make moves either.

Oakland Athletics prospect Elvis Peralta of Lawrence, who spent most of the season at High-A Lansing, bounced up for a quick two-game cameo at Triple-A Las Vegas before eventually finishing the season at Double-A Midland. Former Central Catholic and Elon star Cam Devanney also earned a big promotion in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, playing the year at Double-A Biloxi after having previously never played above rookie ball.

Northeastern stars thrive

In addition to Burt, two other former Northeastern baseball greats with local ties had nice showings this summer. Brandon Dufault of Windham, N.H., was assigned right to Single-A after being drafted in the 16th round by the Los Angeles Angels, and he posted a 3.52 ERA in 15.1 innings before earning a promotion to High-A.

Amesbury's Jared Dupere also made his professional debut after being drafted in the 13th round by the San Francisco Giants in July. The former Northeastern and Governor's Academy star played 29 games of rookie ball in the Arizona Complex League and batted .263 with a .756 OPS.

Flying start for former Eagles

Former Boston College star Sal Frelick of Lexington tore it up after being drafted No. 15 overall by the Milwaukee Brewers. Frelick batted .467 in rookie ball and then .437 in Single-A before getting promoted again to High-A for the final month of the season.

Frelick's Eagles teammate Cody Morissette of Exeter, N.H., the nephew of Newburyport High athletic director Kyle Hodsdon, was assigned straight to Single-A after getting drafted in the second round by the Miami Marlins.

Hajjar getting ready

The other local to earn a professional opportunity this summer was Andover's Steve Hajjar, who was picked in the second round out of Michigan by the Minnesota Twins. The former Central Catholic ace did not pitch after signing with the Twins, however, and instead spent the summer training at the team's facility in Fort Myers.

Hajjar said he spent a lot of time throwing live at bats against other Twins prospects, and he plans to spend most of the offseason training in Tampa before reporting to spring training. After that he'll go wherever the Twins send him, and his goal for his first year of professional ball is simply to make the most of whatever opportunities come his way.

"The good thing is it's in my control," Hajjar said. "It's all about how you play, so I want to get out there and have the opportunity to play and wear that jersey, so that's what I'm excited for. Wherever the season takes me that's where I'll be but I'm not going to press and worry about moving up too quickly."

Sosa's still got it!

Lawrence's Ruben Sosa is still going strong at age 30. The former Lawrence High star spent 2021 playing for the Mexican League's Tigres de Quintana Roo, where he batted .304 with a .783 OPS. He is currently playing in the Dominican Winter League for Toros del Este.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.