I absolutely love two-way players, and Matt Wallner is clearly the best in the country entering the 2019 season.
He was drafted as a pitcher by the Minnesota Twins in the 32nd round of the 2016 MLB Draft, but chose to come to Southern Miss to pitch and hit.
As a freshman in 2017 he made his presence felt more with the bat hitting .336 in 235 at-bats with 56 runs scored, 14 doubles, 19 home runs, 63 RBI, and a .463 on-base percentage.
As a pitcher, he closed out four games with a 1.84 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts and a 1.02 WHIP.
In his sophomore season with Southern Miss he hit .351 in 228 at-bats with 59 runs scored, 13 doubles, 16 home runs, 67 RBI, and a .474 on-base percentage.
He struggled a little more as a pitcher in 2018 with a 7.98 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in 14.2 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts and 6 saves.
This past summer he hit .250 over 84 at-bats in the Cape Cod League, while also spending time with the US Collegiate National team.
Wallner is a tall, lanky player at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds. He throws right-handed, but is a left-handed hitter.
He’s clearly been a better hitting than pitcher in college, so it will be interesting to see how scouts look him going into the 2019 MLB Draft.
