Get to know the Herd: Forrest Wall

From being slotted as the Buffalo Bisons’ perennial leadoff man in May to sustaining an oblique injury month long injury in June, the 2021 season has been a bumpy on for center fielder Forrest Wall.

But despite the bumps and bruises, Wall has been back in the team’s lineup in August and just in time for the team’s return to Sahlen field.

Wall’s impressive start to the season should give Bisons’ fans a lot to be excited about.

Over the first third of the season Wall’s impact on the Bisons and his improvement at the plate could not be ignored hitting .389 in June and .271 for the season, a nearly 10 point improvement from 2019.

During the extended-offseason Wall spent his time at the Toronto Blue Jays Alternate training site and reportedly put in extra work at the plate to improve the mechanics of his swing.

“It's pretty impressive the progress that [Wall] made through the 2019 season and then not having a season last year and going to the alt site and the work that he put in to refine his swing,” said Bisons’ manager Casey Candaele.

“He's just got a flatter plane when swinging through the zone, getting the barrel to the ball and staying in the zone so well,” said Candaele. “He's hitting balls all over the field hard.”

The adjustments resulted in his best stretch of hitting since arriving at the Triple-A level at the end of the 2019 season.

Before his injury Wall had 28 hits in 27 games, including six doubles and two triples. In 2019 Wall struck out 14 times and had just 12 hits in 14 games.

More hits also meant more time for Wall on the base paths doing what he does best, steal bags. Through his first 27 games, Wall stole a league-leading 12 bases and was caught just once.

“Right now, he's locked in and doing a great job,” said Candaele in June. “I mean you combine that with the other gifts that he has, his speed, and it's coming together for him very well.”

Against the Syracuse Mets on June 6th Wall’s season came to halt. He spent 44 days out of the lineup after suffering an oblique injury.

Since returning to the lineup Wall on July 24th, he has not missed a step. In his first game back Wall singled twice in four at-bats and led the Bisons to a 6-3 win over the Mets.

Over his total six games since his return against the Mets and Worcester Red Sox, Wall has hit leadoff in every game, accumulated seven hits and drove in a pair of runs.

Wall’s speed did not appear to have diminished either post-injury. Wall went one for one on base-stealing attempts during his first game back and still ranks 10th in Triple-A East in stolen bases despite having played almost half as many games as most everyone ahead of him.

The return of Wall to the Bisons means improvements in several different aspects of the game, a leadoff hitter, the team’s center fielder and best base runner. All aspects Candaele and his crew are excited to have back.