Max Wagner
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| Photo: MiLB.com |
Bio:
Age: 21
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 215 lbs.
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Hometown: Green Bay, Wisconsin
Draft Profile: 2nd round, 42nd pick of the 2022 draft by Baltimore
Drafted Out of: Clemson University
Career Stat Line: .239 AVG .359 OBP 11 HR 47 RBI 28 SB 0.965 Fielding %
It's been a while since we've had an Oriole in the Minor League Spotlight, so we're circling back to Birdland, with an eye on Max Wagner. Very similar to last week's James Triantos, Wagner is grinding on the minor league level to find his best positional fit between second or third base. Outside of that though, very different journeys for the two.
Max grew up in the land of the Cheeseheads-- Green Bay, Wisconsin, playing his travel ball for the locally based Green Bay Rays. He attended Preble High School from 2016-2020, where he was an immediate and regular contributor on the diamond. As a freshman, the varsity shortstop batted .406 before following up his impressive season with a .461 average (Tiger Net). The kid was a force at the plate despite often being one of the youngest players out there.
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| Photo: USA Today Network |
The two-way player found himself squarely on the NCAA radar after his sophomore campaign, with scholarship offers from powerhouses such as TCU, Vanderbilt, Clemson, and LSU, among others. According to Wagner though, the decision was not a particularly challenging one.“I had a couple other offers, but growing up, Clemson was my dream school,” he said. “I started watching them this past year, and just the way the atmosphere is at the stadium, I wanted to be there right away. So, that’s what made my decision.” He officially committed to the Tigers in August of 2018, before ever even visiting the campus.
To follow up on the hype of a primetime division one commitment, the then-junior ripped a .500/5/39 stat line en route to being named the 2019 Prep Baseball Report Player of the Year for Wisconsin. Unfortunately, COVID prematurely ended his high school career before what likely would've been a dominant senior year for the Green Bay native.
Despite that, he was named Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for his previous performances. In his three years playing for the Hornets, Wagner accumulated 69 RBI and 36 stolen bases with a .569 OBP and .731 slugging %. He also went 16-3 as a pitcher, with a 0.82 ERA and 1.4 strikeouts per inning (Green Bay Press Gazette).
2020 was not without baseball though for Max, as he was recruited to get some work in for the Northwoods League as a member of the Green Bay Booyah (We Are Green Bay). Being a lifelong fan of the independent team, it was an easy decision for the future Tiger to sign on. In fifteen games of summer action, he hit a modest .211 with three RBI while nearly three years younger than his competitors (Baseball Reference); excellent preparation for what collegiate ball would have in store.
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| Photo: Tigernet |
Freshman year in the ACC was a tough transition for the Wisconsinite. In 35 games, the twenty year old produced a .214/2/9 with two stolen bases and three times as many strikeouts as walks. While the numbers may not have been the sharpest, the experience and acclimation was essential, priming Wagner for a big second season.
Which is exactly what he delivered. After spending the early part of the summer reworking his swing, Max had a substantially more impressive stint for the Booyah, before returning to Clemson with a vengeance (Mass Live). The sophomore batted .370 with an on-base percentage just under .500, 76 runs batted in and 27 home runs-- an eye popping leap from the two he hit the season prior. In the process, he nearly evened his BB:K rates, and earned the ACC Baseball Player of the Year award (Wikipedia), joining massive names such as Mark Teixeira and Buster Posey as recipients of the honor.
Professional scouts obviously took notice of the quantum leap in production at a prime NCAA institute, as Wagner began rising quickly up draft boards. While some scouts had concerns about what position he'd fit into long term, there seemed to be a consensus that his bat was the real deal.
The first round came and went, without his name being called. But it wasn't a long wait from there for Max, as Baltimore decided to make him their selection with the 42nd pick of the 2022 draft. Both sides agreed to a signing bonus of $1.9 million dollars, a slight overpay given the slot value, and he was officially an Oriole (Spotrac).
Wagner quickly worked through three levels of the O's organization in the month and a half after being drafted, rising from the Florida Complex League to High-A Aberdeen in just fourteen games. He'd spend just a week on the Ironbirds before the year wrapped up, cumulatively posting a .243/1/11 line on the short season, with most of his production coming for Class-A Delmarva (MiLB.com).
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| Photo: Matt Button/ Baltimore Sun |
So far through 2023, the 12th ranked Baltimore prospect has shown a similar trajectory to the rest of his career, with his power beginning to break through as he adjusts to improved competition. He's currently got ten long balls and 36 RBI for Aberdeen in 79 games played, rocking a .238 average at the dish. We anticipate that both his average and home run numbers will continue to improve as the year goes, just as they did at Clemson and Preble.
On top of being an incredible baseball talent, Max is a world-class human off the diamond. The Max Wagner Brand has donated money from merchandise sales, in addition to using their platform to help raise funds for groups such as Angels At Bat, which grows the sport of baseball in Africa, as well as other local charities like Ribbon of Hope and The Miracle League.
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| Photo: Max Wagner Brand |
This kid's got a ton of potential as a future power bat in Birdland; don't be surprised if we get the news of a promotion to AA Bowie before the year's end.
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@Choppinglines
*I own no rights to any images found in this blog
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