Josh Wall

Joshua Michael Wall

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 6", Weight 220 lb.
• High School Central Private High School
• Debut July 22, 2012
• Final Game April 19, 2014
• Born January 21, 1987 in Walker, LA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Josh Wall reached the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012.

After going went 14-1 with a 0.93 ERA, 44 hits allowed and 138 strikeouts in 83 innings. as a high school senior at Central Private School in Central, Louisiana, Wall was named the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for Louisiana. Baseball America named him second-team All-American alongside Bryan Morris, Aaron Thompson, Beau Jones and Craig Italiano; the first-team pitchers were Michael Bowden, Kyle Drabek, Kasey Kiker, Chris Volstad and Mark Pawelek. He was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second round of the 2005 amateur draft, between Kevin Slowey and Yunel Escobar. He was the third Dodgers pick that year, after Luke Hochevar and Ivan DeJesus Jr.. The scout was Dennis Moeller. He signed for a $480,000 bonus.

He made his pro debut that summer, going 1-3 with a 3.86 ERA in 5 appearances for the GCL Dodgers. The following year, with the Ogden Raptors, he was 3-5 with a 5.86 ERA in 14 starts. With the Great Lakes Loons in 2007, he went 6-10 with a 4.18 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 26 games. He tied for 6th in the Midwest League in losses. Pitching for the Inland Empire 66ers in 2008, he posted a 9-6 record with a 6.28 ERA and 101 strikeouts.

Wall was back with the 66ers in 2009, going 5-8 with a 5.98 ERA. He dropped down a level the next season, going back to Great Lakes, where he was 9-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 26 starts while leading the Midwest League with 151 strikeouts, two ahead of Daniel Straily. He also led Dodgers farmhands in whiffs. Moved to the bullpen with the AA Chattanooga Lookouts in 2011, he was 4-5 with a 3.93 ERA and one save in 51 outings. He was 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League as well and was added to Los Angeles' 40-man roster.

After going 2-1 with 18 saves (leading the Pacific Coast League at the time) and a 5.68 ERA in 39 games for the Albuquerque Isotopes to begin 2012, he was called up to the majors by the Dodgers when Javy Guerra went on the bereavement list. He made his big league debut on July 22nd, throwing a scoreless inning of relief against the New York Mets. He entered in the bottom of the 11th with a 3-3 tie. He retired fellow rookie Jordany Valdespin on a fly then David Wright singled, but was caught stealing and Ike Davis flew out. Los Angeles scored five times in the 12th for Wall to earn the win. Matt Treanor pinch-hit for Wall during that frame and Josh Lindblom wound up finishing the game. Wall was then sent back down when Chad Billingsley came off the disabled list. He came back in late August and made 6 more relief appearances for the Dodgers the rest of the way, ending at 1-0, 4.76 in 5 2/3 innings.

Wall spent most of the month of April, 2013 with the Dodgers, but the results were not great. In 6 games in relief, he was 0-1 and allowed 14 runs in 7 innings for an ERA of 18.00. He then went back to Albuquerque where he continued to be hit hard, to the tune of a 5.60 ERA in 25 games. On July 6th, he was one of three young pitchers traded to the Miami Marlins in return for veteran Ricky Nolasco, along with Steve Ames and Angel Sanchez.

Sources: 2012 Dodgers Media Guide, 2006 Baseball Almanac

Related Sites

• Josh Wall on mlb.com