LaMonte Wade -2017

[goulik]

LaMonte Wade was born Jan. 1st, 1994 in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up in Owings Mills, MD and graduated H.S. From St. Paul's in Broklandville, MD.

 

From there he went to the University of Maryland. He played as a first baseman as a Freshman but then moved to Center Field. For the Terrapins, Wade had a .394 on-base percentage in three seasons with more walks than strikeouts.

 

The Minnesota Twins selected Wade in the ninth round with the 260th overall selection, of the 2015 draft. He made his professional debut with the Elizabethton Twins where he hit .312/.428/.506 (.934) with eight doubles, five triples and nine home runs. He took 46 walks with just 34 strikeouts. He was also 12/13 in stolen base attempts. He was promoted to the CedaR Rapids Kernels for the final week of their season and their playoff run.

 

Wade began the 2016 season with Cedar Rapids. He hit .280/.410/.396 in 207 at bats. Again he walked more than striking out with 44 BBs to 27 Ks. After starting in the MidWest League all star game, Wade was moved up to the Fort Myers Miracle for the remainder of the season. In high A he hit .318/.386/.518. On the season he hit a combined 14 doubles, 4 triples and 8 Long balls.

 

Wade is slated to begin 2017 playing for the Chattanooga Lookouts.

[Vanimal46]

Big fan of Wade... Looking forward to tracking his progress this season! 

[rghrbek]

I also am a big fan.  Hopefully the Twins have this guy fast tracking.  With that on base %, and his hit skill in general, he could be a top of the order candidate.

 

He plays CF so assuming his glove and arm are plus?

[goulik]

Pretty sure he will be a corner outfielder when he makes it considering who we already have here. That said, I am hoping some more power develops as he continues to move up.

[goulik]

Wade is hitting 246/371/368 In 57 at bats for a 740 OPS. He has 11 walks to 9 K's. He has stolen 2 bases without being caught. Wade only has 1 double but he has 2 home runs.

 

Defensively, Wade has played mostly in Left field. He is caught behind Tanner English who is better defensively and has taken the most CF innings on the Lookouts. Wade has 15 games and 83 innings in left where his only error of the season also occurred. He has also logged 4 games and 28 innings CF and 5 games with 40 innings In right. From right field, he was able to add a double play by throwing out a runner.

[Guest]

It wouldn't surprise me to see Wade get more innings in CF if English doesn't pick it up and Granite doesn't get healthy. If Wade plays well, he could get a chance in Rochester.

[goulik]

Wade is tearing up another level of baseball hitting .326/.458/.478 for a .937 OPS in 120 Plate Appearances. Those are career highs in Avg, OBP, and OPS. Pretty good for having moved up another level after only a half season at A+. Wade has collected 24 BB's vs 17 K's. He has also stolen all 3 bases he's attempted. He has hit 5 doubles and 3 homers but has not tripled yet.

 

Defensively, Wade is playing mostly Left Field due to the superior defense of Tanner English. He has 162.2 innings in Left, 40 in right, and 28 in center with a .981 FPCT over a combined 230.2 innings in the field (one error...). Wade also has 4 outfield assists, one of those trying to tag up on him and the others being too aggressive for their own good.

 

Wade has typically spent a half season or less at a level and at this pace, he will not be in Chattanooga for long either.

[Vanimal46]

Raising his average 80 points and his OPS by 200 points in 2 weeks? That's god dang impressive. 

[caninatl04]

An article here

 

http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/get-to-know-outfielder-lamonte-wade-r4365

 

written in January 2016 by Seth, adds that he was considered a possible Top 5 pick in his draft year until he broke a ham-bone.  (Hamate bone).

 

Maybe we are seeing his Top 5 potential.

[AZTwin]

An article here

 

http://twinsdaily.com/articles.html/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/get-to-know-outfielder-lamonte-wade-r4365

 

written in January 2016 by Seth, adds that he was considered a possible Top 5 pick in his draft year until he broke a ham-bone. (Hamate bone).

 

Maybe we are seeing his Top 5 potential.

Is that top 5 overall or top 5 rounds? I was skeptical last year but man this kid is making me a believer.

[Vanimal46]

It doesn't matter at this point. The Twins got a steal in the 9th round. Whether you want to say every blind squirrel finds an acorn, or the scouting department is amazzzzzzing!!1! I like the odds of Wade being an MLB player. That plate discipline and contact rate man... I'm a believer too.

[goulik]

 

Raising his average 80 points and his OPS by 200 points in 2 weeks? That's god dang impressive. 

You have several multi-hit games, 3 doubles and a home run during that span and the result is this thread with another link as well. 

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/25864-mlbpipline-players-of-the-week/

[AZTwin]

Another strong night for Wade. 2-3 with a homer and a walk. Batting average up to .327. OBP up to .465. He should get called up to AAA soon. If either Rosario, Kepler, or Grossman went down I would give this kid one of the first options in the bigs as well.

[caninatl04]

 

Is that top 5 overall or top 5 rounds? I was skeptical last year but man this kid is making me a believer.

Top 5 overall.

[goulik]

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/25898-article-twins-minor-league-report-512-kranson-granite-wade-key-in-victories/

 

A lot of Wade love going on after last night's game

[AZTwin]

Top 5 overall.

Wow I had no idea. Never saw that before. Pretty amazing to drop that much. He had another nice game tonight. Quickly becoming one of my favorites. Hope he gets a call up sometime after the break and definitely deserves a September call up this year

[AZTwin]

I was just think of a comp for this guy and I just see Shannon Stewart with a stronger arm. That is a huge compliment. While it's not a power hitter you typically look for with corner outfield, we may not need the extra power with Sano and others on the team. We may have a leadoff hitter for years to come. And I'm as big of fan of Eddie Rosario as they come but I'd be open for this guy upending him because it fits the team better

[goulik]

Tanner English was sent down to Fort Meyers which I believe will get Wade a lot more time in CF...time will tell.

[Oxtung]

I have no personal knowledge having never seen him play but most publicly available scouting reports have him as average fielder with below average arm. It seems that his spot might be LF even if Buxton doesn't cut it. That said I like the bat to ball skills he has demonstrated so far!

[goulik]

Wade has cooled off some since my last update but he still has some robust stats with the stick. He is hitting 288/419/412 for an 830 OPS. He has 39 walks to 30 strike outs in 215 plate appearances. He is up to 9 doubles but hit only one more HR (4 total). He now has 5 stolen bases but his unblemished record now has 2 Caught stealing blemishes...Oh well.

 

Defensively, he has more than doubled his time in CF since English was sent down but he is still primarily a Left Fielder logging 295 innings in Left, 62.2 in CF and 49 in RF. He has a 988 FPCT in Left and 1.000 in CF and RF for a total FPCT of 991. He has also thrown on 11 outfield assists. They need to stop trying to run on him... I give him til the end of the month before he is moved up to Rochester. That will be shortly after his NEXT hot streak.

[goulik]

Wade was named to the Southern League All Star team

 

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/26229-2017-twins-minor-league-all-stars/

[goulik]

Wade has continued in his cold streak. Over the last 10 games, he is 9 for 35 for a 257 BA. He has added 7 more walks during that time but his only extra base hit since the last update was a double and his season slash has dropped to 270/405/369 for a 774 OPS. I was hoping he would continue to tear things up and get a midseason promotion to Rochester but it looks like he may need the full season in AA. Going just by stats, it appears pitchers have made an adjustment and now he needs to make a corresponding adjustment and take his game to the next level (literally) I still have faith that he will get it done.

[goulik]

Well I should have been updating this more often because things change. After the last post, Wade heated back up and had his average back up to over 290. Then he went on a cold streak hitting 234 his last 10 games before hitting the disabled list. He was not officially on the DL until August 6th but he has not played since July 31st.

 

On the season Wade has 95 hits in 343 at bats. His season slash is 277/393/394 for a 787 OPS. These are all career lows but still solid IMO.

[goulik]

Wade finished the year hitting 342 over his last 10 games to finish his AA season with a 292/397/408 slash and an 805 OPS. Wade doesn't hit for a ton of power (22/3/7-2B/3B/HR) but what he does is get on base and set up the offense. Wade induced 76 walks and kept up his tradition of walking more than striking out while maintaining a healthy BA.

I would like it if Wade could improve his stolen base numbers. He was only caught twice in his 11 attempts but if he's an on base machine, snagging some more extra bases would really drive up his prospect status (yes, even more)

In the field, Wade accumulated 526 innings in Left, 265.1 in Center and another 149 in right. He had one error on the year (it was while playing in Left Field) He had 8 outfield assists.

[goulik]

Wades season isn't over though... he is playing in the AFL and has 5 games under his belt. In 18 at bats, he has 3 hits(1double), 3 walks and two strikeouts. I will not do a wrap on his season until the AFL is complete.

[dougd]

from Fangraphs Nov 7:

  Who are a couple of guys who have looked much better at the plate in the AFL than when you have seen them previously?

12:56
Eric A Longenhagen: LaMonte Wade

[goulik]

Wades AFL and 2017 seasons may be over after an outfield collision resulted in him being carted off. See discussion here

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/27978-lamonte-wade-injured-in-afl/

Thankfully he has been released from the hospital without spinal injuries but he does have a concussion.

I will try to post a wrap up on his season and next seasons outlook by the end of the day. God Speed Mr. Wade. Hope to see you healthy, happy and prosperous in the spring.

[goulik]

In the AFL Wade has appeared in 19 games and registered 63 at bats. He has hit 238/351/413 with 3 doubles a triple and two homers. He stole one of two bases attempted and struck out 10 times while walking 9 times.

 

Wade has shown an advanced ability to hit and get on base. He is able to extend at bats and draw walks while limiting strike outs. Wade is also solid in the field. He has played all three outfield positions every step of the way but he is primarily a left fielder and projects to be a corner outfielder at the highest level in the near future.

 

Next Spring I expect to see Wade invited to MLB camp for a few weeks. He will return to the minors but will move up to AAA and begin his push for a call up. I would expect that to be September or when an outfielder Goes down with injury.