Forrest Wall, the 35th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, has hung in low-level limbo for the past three seasons, in no small part due to an injury-shortened 2017 campaign to compound his 2016 season’s struggles. Now, it’s all about damage control and reclaiming his place as a top prospect in the Colorado Rockies organization.
Wall, now 22-years-old, entered 2017 after the weakest campaign of his short career with the Modesto Nuts and was asked to transition from the keystone to center field. Repeating at Class High-A, it was an important season for Wall to prove his worth.
Instead, after making an astounding and noteworthy diving catch at his new position, Wall lost 2017 altogether, injuring his right shoulder and going under the knife. And as the season vanished into thin air, so did an important development stage with it. At one point a top-six prospect in the organization — behind Brendan Rodgers, Jon Gray, David Dahl, Jeff Hoffman and Ryan McMahon but ahead of guys like Kyle Freeland and Trevor Story — Wall tumbled nearly 10 places in the rankings, even with major graduations.
Now, as he prepares to break camp in 2018, he and the Rockies organization are confident he’ll be ready to jump back into the fray. BSN Denver caught up with Wall for an exclusive interview to get an update on where this uber-talented player currently stands.
“The toughest part, I think from my perspective, was that it was obvious he was starting to turn a corner offensively last year in High-A right when it happened,” said Rockies Director of Player Development Zach Wilson. “But, I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll get right back on track and I think he’s ready and able to have a really good year this year, wherever that ends up being.”
After slashing a lackluster .264/.329/.355 in 2016, Wall was just a tick under .300 with an OBP 61 points above that through 22 games in Lancaster when he was injured. While minor league statistics must be taken with a grain of salt, he was squaring up the ball much better in 2017 than he had in the previous season, reaching a third of his previous extra-base hit totals in a sixth of the games played.
Wilson is confident that he’ll be able to pick up that level of production thanks to his rehab process and the position of readiness it put him in entering spring training. Wilson noted that Wall accepted the reality of his situation quickly and did what he needed to do to get healthy.
Wall, in turn, knew that he still had work to do to keep what skills he could before he started picking up some action in instructional league play in October before resuming all activities in November.
“I didn’t want to sit at home and rehab, I obviously knew I was missing a lot of at-bats,” Wall said. “So, I did some things. I did a couple drills. But, I mean, I was in a sling. I set up a machine and I had it with a red dot and a green dot, so I was able to kind of see and still track pitches. It definitely doesn’t compare to a game and getting at-bats, but I tried to do as much as I could.”
Apparently, every little thing helped, as the level of production has been there for Wall since the first day of camp. He has shown Wilson, and the coaches and front office, what persuaded the Rockies to make him a rare first-round second baseman draft choice.
“The same old Forrest that we know,” Wilson said. “A guy that can run. A guy that is continuing to improve in centerfield, as we added that to who he is. And a guy who is swinging the bat like he’s capable of doing: line drive, gap-to-gap, doesn’t try to do too much with occasional power. He’s the Forrest that we know and love, and now he’s the healthy Forrest that we know and love.”
And a more versatile and powerful Forrest, as well.
While it’s yet to be seen wherein the system he will start the season, it would not be surprising to see Wall start his third straight season at High-A. While that isn’t ideal from a development standpoint, he’ll still be under the average age of the level, even if he stays there all season. Plus, the added adversity could only help to develop him mentally as he looks to rebound in 2018 and restore his status.
Guys who can play middle infield and center and hit for power are beyond rare so getting back on track, which Forrest Wall apparently has, could mean big things for him and the Colorado Rockies.
