Jared James Walsh (born July 30, 1993) 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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Walsh was born in

Brookfield, Wisconsin Brookfield is a city located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States in the Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeast ...

and later moved to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

where he attended

Peachtree Ridge High School Peachtree Ridge High School (PRHS) is a public high school in Gwinnett County, in Suwanee, Georgia, United States. It is a part of Gwinnett County Public Schools. It is one of two public schools in the county to use block scheduling, the other be ...

. He played

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 ...

for the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, serving as a

two-way player In sports that require a player to play on offense and defense (such as basketball and ice hockey), a two-way player refers to a player who excels at both. In sports where a player typically specializes on offense or defense (like American footb ...

and a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

. Walsh was selected by the Angels in the 39th round of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks f ...

. He made his major league debut in 2019, initially serving as a backup first baseman behind Albert Pujols and occasionally pitching out of the bullpen. After Pujols was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

in May 2021, Walsh became the primary first baseman for the Angels and received his first career All-Star selection later that year. On June 11, 2022, he became the ninth player in Angels history to

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League B ...

, doing so at

Angel Stadium Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a baseball stadium located in Anaheim, California. Since its opening in 1966, it has served as the home ballpark of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), and was also the home stadium to the Los An ...

against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Amateur career

Walsh attended

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton counties ...

and played

at the

. In 2013, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was named a league all-star. He was selected by the

in the 39th round of the

Professional career

Walsh spent his first professional season with the

Arizona League Angels The Arizona Complex League Angels are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Temp ...

and

Orem Owlz The Orem Owlz were a Minor League Baseball team located in Orem, Utah, United States, from 2001 to 2020. The team competed in the Pioneer League as a Rookie League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The Owlz played their home games at Home o ...

. He played 2016 with the

Burlington Bees The Burlington Bees are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Burlington, Iowa, and have played their home games at Community Field since 1947. Founded in 1889, the Bees played in Minor League Baseball' ...

, 2017 with the

Inland Empire 66ers The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The 66ers are based in San Bernardino, California, and play at San Manuel Stadium. Franchis ...

and

Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...

, and 2018 with Inland Empire, Mobile and the

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark o ...

. He also appeared in eight games as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

in 2018. The Angels invited Walsh to spring training in 2019, where they continued to use him as a two-way player. He returned to Salt Lake to begin 2019. On May 15, 2019, his contract was selected and he was called up to the major leagues. He made his debut that day versus the Minnesota Twins, where he went 3 for 4. On May 26, Walsh recorded his 1st career RBI with a walk-off bloop RBI single against the Texas Rangers. In 2020, Walsh finished second on the team in home runs (9) despite only playing in 32 games, batting .293/.324/.646. In the spring of 2020, Walsh suffered an arm injury which prevented him from pitching and forced him to focus on hitting and playing first base. Walsh made the 2020 Opening Day roster and performed well enough in the shortened season to finish seventh in voting for the

American League Rookie of the Year Award In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

. His season was described as a "breakout" and a "bright spot" in a disappointing year for the Angels. Prior to the 2021 season, Angels manager

Joe Maddon Joseph John Maddon (born February 8, 1954) is an American former professional baseball manager and coach. He has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball. Maddon began his coaching career in MLB ...

said that the team did not plan to have Walsh pitch and were choosing to focus on his offense and defense, due in large part to his success in the prior season as a first baseman. In May 2021, the Angels released first baseman and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

Albert Pujols in part to free up playing time for Walsh whose success had carried over from the prior season. 2021 proved to be Walsh's breakout year, as he batted .277/.340/.509 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs in 144 games and was named to the American League All-Star team. Against left-handers, however, he had a .208 on base percentage, the lowest in the major leagues. On June 11, 2022, Walsh

against the

, becoming the 9th player in franchise history to do so. Walsh struggled offensively throughout 2022, batting .215/.269/.374 in 118 games. On August 25, he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and placed on the 60-day injured list, officially ending his season. Angels hitting coach

Jeremy Reed Jeremy Thomas Reed (born June 15, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Reed graduated from Bonita High School in La Verne, California in 1999, and went on to play college basebal ...

attributed Walsh's lack of offensive production to the injury, stating that he had been playing through it. On September 1, Walsh successfully underwent surgery with the expectation that he would be ready to play by the following year's spring training. On January 13, 2023, Walsh signed a one-year, $2.65 million contract with the Angels, avoiding salary arbitration.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Jared 1993 births Living people American League All-Stars Arizona League Angels players Baseball players from Wisconsin Burlington Bees players Cotuit Kettleers players Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Inland Empire 66ers players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball pitchers Mobile BayBears players Orem Owlz players People from Brookfield, Wisconsin Salt Lake Bees players