Jared Walsh

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Jared James Walsh

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Biographical Information[edit]

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Jared Walsh broke in as a two-way player with the Los Angeles Angels in 2019, then became an All-Star first baseman.

Walsh was born in Brookfield, WI, near Milwaukee, WI. As of 2019, he was the only major leaguer born in Brookfield. He attended high school in Georgia, and went to the University of Georgia. At Georgia, he was was both a pitcher and a position player, pitching in 35 of his total 124 games.

After being drafted in the 39th round in the 2015 amateur draft, he impressed by hitting over .300 with power in both rookie league and A+ level ball. He spent parts of two seasons in AA level ball with the Mobile BayBears and (through 2019) parts of two seasons with the Salt Lake Bees at the AAA level. While he pitched occasionally, the bulk of his appearances in the minors were at first base.

Jared made his major league debut on May 15, 2019. In his first ten games as a major leaguer, he appeared eight times at first base and twice as a pitcher. He ended his first season with 34 games played: 24 at first base, 7 as a pinch-hitter and 5 as a pitcher. He hit .203 with 1 homer and 5 RBIs, while going 0-0, 1.80 in 5 innings on the mound. In the minors, he hit 36 homers in 98 games for Salt Lake City. In 2020, he was used exclusively as a position player, although his bat was very quiet at first. As August ended, he was still looking for his first hit of the season, having been demoted to the Angels' alternative training site for most of that month. But with his team hopelessly out of the race, he was given regular playing time at first base in the final month. He collected his first base hit, a double, on September 2nd, making him 1 for 14 on the year, but by September 17th, he had managed to raise his average to .328! This included a remarkable streak of 9 games starting on September 6th in which he had at least one hit, one run and one RBI in each game, something no other rookie had ever done. In fact, only four other players had had longer such streaks, with the record being 12 by Rudy York in 1940. In that span, he went 17 for 37 (.459) with 12 runs and 16 RBIs, with 2 doubles and 6 homers. He hit .337 with 9 homers and 26 RBIs in 22 games and was named the American League Rookie of the Month for September, finishing the year at .293, as all of his offensive production came in the last month. He was named the first baseman on the 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

He started 2021 where he left off the year before, first splitting time at first base with veteran Albert Pujols but soon relegating him to a back-up position. This led to the Angels' controversial decision to cut ties with the future Hall of Famer at the start of May, as Walsh was outhitting him by leaps and bounds, and Pujols had little value as a bench player with no defensive position beside first base. Walsh went on to make the All-Star team for the first time, justifying the team's decision even if Pujols did bounce back after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Walsh hit .277 in 144 games in what was his first real full season, with29 homers, 98 RBIs and an OPS+ of 129.

On June 11, 2022, he hit the 9th cycle in franchise history, almost exactly three years after Shohei Ohtani had hit number 8. It came in an 11-6 win over the New York Mets only days after the Angels had replaced manager Joe Maddon with Phil Nevin. He was having another good season, with 11 homers and 36 RBIs in 58 games, with an OPS+ of 120. On June 21st, he had a chance at a second cycle in one of the wildest games of the year against the Kansas City Royals. He had already hit a double, a triple and a homer when he came up in the 11th with the tying run on base, but popped up to 2B Whit Merrifield to end the game, a 12-11 win for Kansas City. His season ended early as he played his last game on August 24th. he had been bothered by thoracic outlet syndrome for a while now, and decided that it was time to have the condition fixed given the Angels were well out of contention. He finished the season at .215 in 188 games, with 15 homers and 48 RBIs, numbers that were well down from his All-Star season the year before. The procedure for addressing his condition included the removal of a rib.

"Walsh, who pitched as a starter and reliever at the University of Georgia, has shown good life on a fastball that sits in the 92-mph range, an improving curveball and a developing change-up." - L.A. Times, March 12, 2019 [1]

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Rhett Bollinger: "Down one rib, Walsh looks to regain All-Star form", mlb.com, February 18, 2023. [2]
  • Megan Garcia: "What could upstage Trout and Ohtani HRs? Walsh's cycle!", mlb.com, June 12, 2022. [3]
  • Mike Petriello: "How Walsh is backing up last year's breakout", mlb.com, May 11, 2021. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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