Cayden Browning Wallace (born August 7, 2001) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in the Kansas City Royals organization.

Amateur career

Wallace attended Greenbrier High School in

Greenbrier, Arkansas Greenbrier is a city in Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock– Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,707 at the 2020 census, up from 4,706 at the 2010 census. ...

. As a freshman in 2017, he hit .349 with four home runs before batting .481 with 11 home runs as a sophomore in 2018. As a junior in 2019, he batted .514 with six home runs and 22 RBIs. That summer, he played in the

Under Armour All-America Baseball Game The Under Armour High School All-America Baseball Game is a high school baseball all-star game held annually to spotlight the United States' top high school players who are juniors or seniors. The game is played in late July or August, at Wrigley ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

. His senior season in 2020 was cancelled after eight games due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, but he was still named the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for the state of Arkansas. He went unselected in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft and enrolled at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

. In 2021, as a freshman at Arkansas, Wallace started sixty games (mainly in right field) in which he slashed .279/.369/.500 with 14 home runs, 44 RBIs, 11 doubles, and a team-leading 67 hits. His 14 home runs were second on the team behind Robert Moore and also tied the freshman home run record set by

Heston Kjerstad Heston Sawyer Kjerstad (born February 12, 1999) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in the Baltimore Orioles organization. Kjerstad was selected second overall by the Orioles in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft. ...

. He was named a Freshman All-American, making him the 24th Razorback to earn the honors. After the 2021 season, he played collegiate summer baseball for the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park on the ca ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. For the 2022 season, Wallace moved to

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He was named the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) Player of the Week on March 15 after he hit three home runs (two grand slams) and had 13 RBIs over a weekend series. Over 65 games, he batted .297 with 16 home runs, sixty RBIs, and 19 doubles, and ended the season as a top-40 prospect for the upcoming draft.

Professional career

Wallace was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the second round with the 49th overall selection of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the team for $1.70 million. Wallace made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Royals and was promoted to the

Columbia Fireflies The Columbia Fireflies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Columbia, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Their home stadium is Segra Park. The team was previously known as the ...

of the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

after three games. Over thirty games, he batted .297 with two home runs, 17 RBIs, and eight doubles. Wallace was assigned to the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, o ...

of the

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

to open the 2023 season. In early August, he was promoted to the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark, whic ...

of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Over 130 games between the two teams, Wallace slashed .254/.331/.414 with 13 home runs, 84 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases.

Personal life

Wallace's older brother, Paxton, played

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

and currently plays in the Royals organization. Their father, Mike, played college football at the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only ...

References

External links

Arkansas Razorbacks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Cayden 2001 births Living people Baseball players from Arkansas Baseball third basemen Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players Bourne Braves players Arizona Complex League Royals players Columbia Fireflies players Quad Cities River Bandits players