OC Register: How the Angels’ Jared Walsh went from 39th-round draft pick to All-Star

[AngelsWin.com]

SEATTLE — Jared Walsh will never forget the agonizing three days he spent in 2015, waiting for the phone call to begin his professional baseball career.

When his phone finally rang with a number from Chicago, Walsh immediately thought either the Cubs or White Sox were about to select him in the draft.

“Would you like to buy a new dryer?” asked the voice on the other end of the line.

“I screamed and hung up the phone,” Walsh recalled this week.

The story is amusing now because the phone call that eventually came – the Angels took him in the 39th round – started him on a journey that will now take him to the All-Star Game.

And this year’s All-Star festivities will include the 2021 draft, which starts on Sunday and ends Tuesday … with the 20th round.

The round in which Walsh was drafted no longer exists.

When Walsh was asked about that peculiar confluence of events, he just shook his head and considered how many players like him won’t even get the chance to become improbable big leaguers, let alone All-Stars.

“The draft is an inexact science,” Walsh said. “I think a lot of guys probably get discouraged, myself included, when you go that late. But I honestly don’t think I could have gotten a bigger blessing if I tried. It worked out perfectly. I got to play at a place that I really enjoy, with great teammates. I got an opportunity. A lot of people in the 39th round don’t even get a chance. It’s like they kind of get released before they even get going.

“For me, it was a tough day, but looking back it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

It certainly didn’t feel that way at the time.

Playing at the University of Georgia, Walsh had hit .188 as a junior, so he was bypassed in the draft and remained in school for his senior year. Few top pro prospects are left in college for their senior season, and the ones who are still there don’t have the leverage of returning to school, so when they are drafted they sign for relatively small bonuses.

Occasionally teams take college seniors in the seventh to 10th rounds, as a way to manipulate the spending of their bonus pools, which is mostly calculated based on the money paid in the top 10 rounds. If teams pay far under the slot value for a college senior in the 10th round, it gives them much more to spend to entice a high-round pick who has leverage.

After hitting .306 and posting a 2.60 ERA for Georgia, Walsh was told by a few scouts he would be one of those picks.

But he wasn’t. Not in the 10th round. Not in the 20th. Not in the 30th.

“That was a day I’ll never forget,” he said. “It was extremely discouraging. It was tough.”

It was still tough after the Angels picked Walsh and sent him to the rookie-level Arizona League. Typically, the players picked higher get the first opportunities. Walsh said he didn’t even play in the first few games.

Eventually, though, he began to shake the stigma of being a 39th-rounder.

“I showed a little bit through the summer,” he said. “And I did get a good opportunity when I went to low-A (Burlington, Iowa).”

As Walsh made the step-by-step climb through the Angels’ farm system, his numbers were decent, but not spectacular. He finally had a breakout in 2019 at Triple-A, when he hit .325 with 36 home runs and a 1.109 OPS at Salt Lake, earning a promotion to the big leagues.

Once in the majors, Walsh struggled, though. He continued struggling until August 2020, when he was sent back to Long Beach, where the Angels kept their top reserves with no Triple-A team during the pandemic.

Walsh returned to Anaheim with a slightly different swing and mindset. He said he focused more on getting “on top of the baseball” and hitting line drives, instead of getting under it.

He also had a different mental approach, which he says he learned from watching second baseman David Fletcher.

“He’s the most elite baseball mind that I’ve ever been around,” Walsh said. “He doesn’t take things personally. He treats it like a game. When you treat it like a game, you are going to get the most out of yourself.”

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That has unquestionably happened.

Walsh hit .337 with nine homers and a 1.113 OPS in his last 22 games of 2020. After a slow start in 2021, he has been fairly consistent this season, with a .282 average, 22 homers and a .911 OPS after his two-homer game on Wednesday.

Those numbers earned him an invitation to the All-Star Game, which could be viewed as a victory for all overlooked players.

“I’m really pleased,” said Manager Joe Maddon, a former undrafted player. “He was a low draft choice, killed in the minor leagues, had to wait for his turn. Nobody wanted to give him a chance. Finally, he gets here. We give him an opportunity, and he’s taking full advantage of it.”

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Alex Cobb, 6-3, 4.60 ERA) at Mariners (TBD), Friday, 7:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

“The draft is an inexact science,” says Angels first baseman Jared Walsh, a 39th-round selection in 2015. “I think a lot of guys probably get discouraged, myself included, when you go that late. But I honestly don’t think I could have gotten a bigger blessing if I tried. It worked out perfectly. I got to play at a place that I really enjoy, with great teammates. I got an opportunity. A lot of people in the 39th round don’t even get a chance. It’s like they kind of get released before they even get going. For me, it was a tough day, but looking back it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.” (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

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[Torridd]

Great story. Like Jared, I'm sorry they no longer have the lower drafts. Is that about money? I'm not sure when the change took place. I think Piazza was also a very low draft pick. Often these lower picks get a chip on their shoulder that propels them to success. I also love his kudos for Fletcher, whose talent I also admire. Between Trout, Ohtani, Walsh, Rendon, and Fletch, this team, like the Suns, can hit a higher tier with just some better pitchers. 

[WicketMaiden]

That's a lovely story. Well done to Walsh for sticking at it, in my experience the most important trait for success is perseverance: to keep trying in the face of failure. Failure isn't the end of something, it is the opportunity to learn and be better the next time. Good for him, I hope he has a long and distinguished career (hopefully with the Angels).

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, Torridd said:

Great story. Like Jared, I'm sorry they no longer have the lower drafts. Is that about money? I'm not sure when the change took place. I think Piazza was also a very low draft pick. Often these lower picks get a chip on their shoulder that propels them to success. I also love his kudos for Fletcher, whose talent I also admire. Between Trout, Ohtani, Walsh, Rendon, and Fletch, this team, like the Suns, can hit a higher tier with just some better pitchers. 

Walsh is a great story. He was taken the round after Jerry Dipoto drafted his own son.

The latter rounds have been eliminated to coincide with the culling of minor league franchises. There is just no place to play them. MLBs solution to the problem of guys slipping through the cracks is the creation of some pseudo amateur league.

[DCAngelsFan]

He's fast becoming one of my favorite players - plays the game with intensity (tempted to use the cliche' "plays the game the right way"), is a pretty funny and open hearted guy, and doesn't seem to be lugging around a bloated ego.

And these underdog stories are great - gives heart to anyone facing long odds, whether it's baseball or anything else in life.