BRADENTON, Fla. — Despite earning an all-state selection as a high school junior and leading Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy to a state title the following year, Jacob Stallings wasn’t sure he could play college baseball. Even after a four-year collegiate career at North Carolina, the catcher took a similar approach to pro ball.
“I never really had any expectations,” Stallings said. “I obviously hoped I’d get there, but I just tried to get better every day, and wherever it took me, it took me.”
At the end of this month, it will likely take the 29-year-old to his first opening day roster spot. Already a possibility to break camp with the Pirates because he is out of minor-league options, Elias Diaz’s undisclosed illness increases the likelihood that Stallings will be in Great American Ball Park on March 28.
There was a time Stallings was drafted in a round that no longer exists. There was a time he was drafted as an asset allocation measure. Now might be the time when he is a major leaguer rather than an injury call-up.
“I’ve played with [Diaz] for so many years,” Stallings said. “I love him as a teammate, I love working with him as a catcher. I want him to get healthy, but at the same time it’s part of my job to be even more ready if he or [Francisco] Cervelli goes down. It would be obviously a thrill. A lot of my best friends in the world are on this team, so to be able to share that with them would be cool.”
Stallings didn’t have an agent — er, adviser — when the Cincinnati Reds drafted him in the 42nd round in 2011. He got calls from teams that wanted to draft him in the 10th and 12th rounds, but he was set on returning to school.
“At the time we had just gone to Omaha, played in the College World Series and lost, and so I really wanted to come back as a senior and give it another shot,” he said. “And finish my degree. I knew that I wouldn’t want to go back at a later date and finish two semesters of school. It was a pretty easy decision.”
Partially because he did not have an agent, Stallings said he wasn’t fully aware that by returning to school, he lost leverage over the team that drafted him. It also meant his bonus would come in the first year under new rules governing how much teams could spend on draft picks.
“The money was different anyway,” he said.
Was it ever. In the first test of the new system, Stanford righty Mark Appel unexpectedly fell to the Pirates at No. 8. They offered him $3.8 million, the most they could spend without forfeiting a draft pick. To find that sum, they drafted players in the top 10 rounds, the portion governed by the bonus pool, whom they could sign for cheap, thus redistributing the saved money toward Appel.
Stallings, their seventh-round pick that year, signed for $10,000. Appel turned down the bonus, returned to school, went first overall the following year to the Houston Astros, got a $6.35 million bonus, never made it to the majors and retired.
“It doesn’t really affect me one way or the other, honestly,” Stallings said. “It got me in a better draft position because I was cheap, probably gave me a little bit more of an opportunity because I got drafted in a higher round.”
Stallings moved through the system and debuted in 2016, but his bat didn’t round into form until later that year. He had a .252 on-base percentage, a .214 average and a .350 slugging percentage in Class AAA Indianapolis in 2016. The following year, he hit .301/.358/.431.
This offseason, the 6-foot-4 Stallings studied film of hitters similar in stature — Mike Trout, J.D. Martinez, Christian Yelich.
“Their bat stays in the zone for so long, it gives them more room for error, timing-wise,” Stallings said. “Another thing is just the hitting position that they get into. It’s so powerful and so consistent. That’s the hardest part for me as a hitter, being a taller guy and getting into a consistently good position to hit, and that’s what I’ve been working on.”
It’s unclear what the Pirates will do once Diaz returns. They could carry three catchers; they have been reluctant to do so in the past, and they also might want to keep Rule 5 pick Nick Burdi in the bullpen, but Francisco Cervelli’s concussion history might change the equation. Stallings cleared waivers twice, before his offensive improvement, and is unlikely to do so again. Even if he does, he can elect free agency because he has already been sent outright to the minors.
“Same mentality as always,” Stallings said. “Just kind of knowing that there’s a little more on the line this time.”
Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.
First Published: March 8, 2019, 2:00 p.m.
Updated: March 8, 2019, 2:24 p.m.
