51s prospect Wallace embraces high expectations

Brett Wallace can't remember the last time expectations didn't sit atop his shoulders on a baseball field. Maybe in T-ball, when coaches and teammates and parents probably thought his hits should one-hop the schoolyard fence instead of flying over it.

That probably changed in coach-pitch, because once these can't-miss players reach the third grade, well, it's time to live up to the hype or take up piano.

Wallace is 23, and already in his professional career twice has been among the guys traded for The Guy. He is one of those first-round draft picks managers run out of superlatives describing and general managers seek to receive when moving supreme talent.

He shattered high school records in California, was a two-time first-team All-American at Arizona State, one of five players to be named Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Year in consecutive seasons, a Triple Crown winner as a sophomore and reached Triple A in two years.

His journey to the majors appears more fast track than a toll road.

His goal: Avoid potholes.

"It's really impossible to (gauge) because this game is so crazy," Wallace said. "As a competitor, I want to be (in the majors) now, tomorrow, today. But one thing I have learned is you can't worry about promotions.

"I can't think of it like, 'If I go hit 30 home runs the first two months of the season, will I get called up?' I could hit 1,000 home runs and not get called up."

Now that's just silly, though the Blue Jays have seen nine straight losing seasons from their Triple-A affiliate, so nothing is certain. Those around the 51s rave about Wallace, the team's first baseman who was part of swaps that brought Matt Holliday from the Athletics to the Cardinals and Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays to the Phillies.

Big deals. Huge names.

For it, they don't temper things when it comes to a player such as Wallace, picked No. 13 overall by the Cardinals in 2008 and annually ranked among an organization's top prospects. The assumption is that he will hit and hit well and eventually view Las Vegas solely as a vacation spot.

"You just let him play," 51s manager Dan Rohn said. "Just let guys like that play and stay the hell out of their way. Guys who overcoach and try to get their hands on somebody are the ones who end up screwing a kid up.

"You let talent dictate and pick up on things he needs to work on and refine what needs to be fixed. I'm not smart enough to figure out anything beyond that. We haven't said a thing to this kid. He can flat out hit. Just a pure hitter."

I like Rohn. He seems a bit nutty in an entertaining sort of way and his attitude ideal for how to approach Wallace, who lined a single to right in his first at-bat of the season Thursday night at Cashman Field.

The 51s beat Salt Lake 2-0, and Las Vegas is said to own a far more competitive team than the one that reached .500 just once last year and took until Aug. 7 to do so.

Wallace might be around all season. He might be gone much sooner. Lyle Overbay is Toronto's first baseman and in the final year of his contract. Opportunity awaits at the highest level.

It's not as if Wallace has never experienced failure. When asked about it, he came up with a whole two weeks when first arriving to Triple A, a 14-day span when he struggled to find his way against better pitching before locking in and hitting .302 with a .505 slugging percentage in the final 44 games with Sacramento.

He reportedly signed with the Cardinals for $1.8 million. That's the good part of being a first-round pick, that and you usually receive every chance to succeed, a rope for survival that is much longer than the guy whose bonus is a bat bag and helmet.

"I guess I would rather it be my way because it's the one I have," said Wallace, who went 1-for-4 in the opener. "But I don't think it matters. You still hold yourself to high expectations, whether you're the (high draft pick) or the other guy. There is an opportunity in front of you, and you try to make the best of it.

"I want to be the guy in the ninth inning, the guy a team counts on to, if we're struggling, get a big hit or hit a home run. I want to be that guy."

He has been for years.

He has done a nice job avoiding those potholes.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.