LaMonte Wade - 2018

[goulik]

 

LaMonte Wade

Born Jan. 1st, 1994 in Baltimore, Maryland

Raised in Owings Mills, MD

Graduated H.S. From St. Paul's in Broklandville, MD.

University of Maryland .394 on-base percentage in three seasons

Drafted: Minnesota Twins 9th round, 260th overall selection in 2015

 

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 spent all of 2017 with Chattanooga. He hit .292/.397/.408 for an .807 OPS in 424 at bats. He continued to show a good eye at the plate with 76 walks and 71 strike outs. Wade had his lowest professional HR total with only 7 but he had 22 two baggers doubling his professional total.

 

Wade was sent to the AFL and recorded 63 at bats. He hit .238/.351/.413 including 3 doubles, 1 Triple, 2 HR's, 9 walks and 10 strike outs. He also had a nice outfield collision...

Twins 2017 AFL Week Five_ LaMonte Wade suffers concussion in on-field collision - Twinkie Town.html

Which was followed by this nice pic.

 

This Spring, he was given a non roster invite and is expected to spend the season in AAA. He is healthy but given the current roster construction, it will be tough for him to break through to the majors without injuries or trades in front of him.

 

Follow on Twitter  @WadesWorld6

 

Apparently he is buddies with a guy named Stefon Diggs...

https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/01/lamonte-wade-jr-and-his-connection-to-stefon-diggs-minnesota-miracle/

 

Fanrag scouting report from Oct.

https://www.fanragsports.com/twins/pleskoff-scouting-report-lamonte-wade/

[Vanimal46]

Been a big fan of him since he joined the organization. I just love his approach at the plate, and think he has an extended MLB career ahead of him as a 4th OF at the very least. 

[goulik]

 

Been a big fan of him since he joined the organization. I just love his approach at the plate, and think he has an extended MLB career ahead of him as a 4th OF at the very least. 

Me too. He doesn't have the same ceiling as other recent prospects but his floor is very high also. He is just an intelligent player that does things right. He's one that can produce solid numbers and do the little things that will help a manager trust and rely on him.

 

In my mind I like to picture him against Arcia and Rosario. He doesn't have that same explosive potential, but he will play really well and he won't make you cringe at a boneheaded play in the field or on the base paths either. IF he could start hitting more home runs... 

[ashbury]

Not important to anyone else, but USAFChief and I were in attendance at the AFL game where Wade was injured. Truly a horrifying several minutes waiting for the two motionless players to be seen to.

[ashbury]

Here's a swing of his from the AFL last November:

 

 

From a different angle a previous day:

 

 

And his "hit to me, hit it to MEEE!" pose in right field:

 

[goulik]

And They're Off!!

 

The season has started and Wade has a hit (1 for 4 opening night). Here We Go!!

[goulik]

Wade is not necessarily tearing things up (yet) and has a pedestrian slash of .257/.325/.257 for a .582 OPS

But it is only 10 games and 35 at bats. He has 9 hits, all singles so far. He also has 4 walks to 3 strike outs. He has not attempted a steal yet.

 

Defensively he has not made an error but he does have an assist from Center Field. That will teach ya to try to get an extra base on Wade!! He has actually spent half the season in Right Field (most of 5 games) with only two complete games in center, and parts of 4 in left.

[goulik]

After starting slowly in Chattanooga, Wade heated up raising his BA to .298 and his OPS to .837. In his 171 at bats he had only 20 strike outs and had 26 walks. Defensively he was in LF 192 innings, CF 82 innings, and RF 67. He had no errors, 4 assists (3 from Left, 1 from center), and one double play.

 

On June 9th Wade earned his promotion to AAA. He has had 125 at bats since the promotion and has added 25 more Ks and Ws. His slash in Rochester is .232/.373/.376 for a .749 OPS. Defensively he has 207 innings in LF and 112 innings in RF. He has not played CF for Rochester. He had an error RF. He has added 4 more assists from LF.

 

A side note. Wade does not steal many bases. He has 8 stolen bases in 10 attempts. He has 35 total in seasons and the only year he got to double digits was when he was in Elizabethton. He should reach double digits this year but this is an area I hope he improves in.

[goulik]

Lamonte Wades time in Rochester did not go as planned and he is destined to repeat AAA next Spring. In 74 games in Rochester, Wade finished with a .229 BA, and .673 OPS. Wade has hit at every level before this but his time in the AZL may have been a hint that he may struggle the next level up. He only hit.238 in Arizona last Fall with a .739 OPS. With his projection as a 4th outfielder, he needed another good season.

 

Wades luster as a prospect has faded quicker than any prospect I can remember. Unfortunately for Wade, there are other outfielders lining up and passing him. The twins acquisition of Jake Cave and Alex Kirrilloffs rise through the minors may mean that Wade gets stuck in AAA purgatory. I feel bad for the kid but he his lackluster performance dug this hole. He needs to break out next Spring and push his way up at the earliest opportunity or his window of making the MLB club may have closed before it really opened.