Blue Jays Nation’s 2024 Mid-Season Prospect Countdown – No. 31: Trenton Wallace

Photo credit: Niall O'Donohoe

Aug 23, 2024, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 23, 2024, 12:07 EDT

The Blue Jays have a left-handed starter in the upper minors to look out for.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual Mid-Season top prospect list, where we’ll look at the 35 best prospects in the Blue Jays system. We’ll look at the player’s stats, my observations, and other publication’s scouting reports if available.

Let’s take a look at our 31st-best prospect, Trenton Wallace.

Getting to know Trenton Wallace…

Position: Starting pitcher

Throws: Left

Born: March 31, 1999

Acquired: 11th-round, 2021 draft (Blue Jays)

Previous ranking: Not ranked (46th on 2023 Preseason list)

The Blue Jays selected left-handed starter Trenton Wallace in the 2021 draft, and the collegiate senior started his professional career out of the bullpen for the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays. In the short stretch following the 2021 draft, he had a 4.32 ERA and a 4.40 FIP in 8.1 innings pitched, along with a 30.6 K% and a 25 BB%.

Wallace’s first full professional season was in 2022 with the Single-A Blue Jays and the High-A Vancouver Canadians, where he started the season out of the bullpen before becoming a starter. For the season, he had a 2.36 ERA and a 3.24 FIP in 80 innings pitched, along with a 34.2 K% and a 13.7 BB%. In the 2022 Mid-Season ranking, he was our 34th-best prospect.

Ryley Delaney

@Ryley__Delaney

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Trenton "Big Arm" Wallace (@Twalley10) is on the mound today, and of course he struck his first batter out. #BlueJays #NextLevel

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8:09 PM · Sep 9, 2022

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The lefty started the 2023 season well with the Canadians, as he had a 1.79 ERA and a 2.98 FIP in 40.1 innings pitched, along with a 30.1 K% and a 7.1 BB%. However, he was injured early after a promotion to Double-A, giving up six earned runs in two starts. After two rehab assignments in the middle of August, he was shut down for the season. Solely because of the injury, he missed out on our 2023 Mid-Season and 2024 Preseason list.

However, Wallace earned a spot on the 2024 Mid-Season list thanks to a great start to the 2024 season, this time with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. In 80.2 innings pitched, Wallace had a 2.68 ERA and a 4.42 FIP, along with a 29.8 K% and a 9.2 BB%. However, he’s struggled with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, posting a 6.46 ERA and a 7.62 FIP in 15.1 innings pitched, along with a higher BB% (22.5%) than K% (12.5%).

Ryley Delaney

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Trenton Wallace gets out of a bases loaded jam with a huge strikeout.

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10:43 PM · Apr 17, 2024

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If the trend continues, Wallace will have a good start to next season with the Bisons, but what does he feature in his arsenal?

Wallace has a three-pitch mix, a two-seam fastball, a changeup, and a slider. The fastball averaged 87 mph in his most recent start but has reached 94 mph in his career. While he doesn’t have a ton of velocity, he doesn’t really need it, as he is a sidearm pitcher with a ton of deception.

Wallace will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December, but with his results in Triple-A, it seems unlikely any team will take a chance on him at the moment. Still, he could be useful starting pitching depth for the 2025 Blue Jays.