Wallach is the 187th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Rochester Honker, Chad Wallach, made his Major League debut for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, August 27, 2017. Wallach is the 187th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Wallach, who played collegiately at Cal State Fullerton, played for the Rochester Honkers in 2012. He was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 5th round of the 2013 MLB Draft.
In 2012 with the Honkers, Wallach hit .303 in 45 games. He also had 10 doubles, seven home runs and 28 RBI.
Wallach started his Minor League career in 2013 with the Batavia Muckdogs of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. In 43 games, he hit .226 with six doubles and 13 RBI.
Wallach split the 2014 season between two teams. He began the year in the Lo-A South Atlantic League with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. After 78 games, he was promoted to the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Hi-A Florida State. Between the two clubs he hit a combined .322 and drove in 57 runs. To go along with those numbers he added 22 doubles, seven home runs and one triple.
Prior to the 2015 season Wallach joined the Cincinnati Reds organization in a trade for Mat Latos that also brought back the Reds starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani. Cincinnati then sent the catcher to their new affiliate in the Florida State League, the Daytona Tortugas. In 106 games in Daytona Wallach hit .246 with 28 doubles, one triple and three home runs. He would also drive in 32 runs, steal two bases and walk 39 times.
Wallach was promoted once again to start the 2016 season to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos of the AA Southern League. Over 69 games, Wallach hit .240 with a career high eight home runs.
Prior to his call-up to the Reds, Wallach had played in 64 games with the Louisville Bats of the AAA International League. He was hitting .226 with 12 doubles, nine home runs and 18 RBI.
In his Major League debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wallach started the game at catcher but went 0 for 4 at the plate.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 24-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 180 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
