In 2022, Will Wagner began carving out his own path in the Astros’ system.
Two years later, Wagner is on the cusp of a big league call-up. The 25-year-old has been really good for the Space Cowboys this season.
Wagner, an 18th round pick in 2021, has been one of the best hitters on a 63-34 Sugar Land squad in 2024. Through 68 games in Triple-A this season, Wagner has drawn 53 walks to just 32 strikeouts. Easily the best ratio on the team.
“Just my approach. My approach changes game for game and just really looking at the reports of the pitcher and if the pitcher is wild, I’ll probably talk until I get a strike,” Wagner said. “Or if a guy comes right at me, I might just sit on a pitch and be ready for it. Just being selective in my zone.”
Wagner has really cut down on the strikeouts this season. While strikeouts have never been an issue for him, he’s been able to cut it down from 19.1% in 2022, 20.1% in 2023 to a minuscule 10.2% in 2024. The 10.2% strikeout rate is the lowest on the Sugar Land roster, with Whitcomb a distant second at 20.0% (which is still really good).
“I just know that my part of the game is to get on base so the guys behind me can hit me in like Pedro [Leon] and Shay [Whitcomb]. Just those guys hitting me in and trying to get on base for those guys,” Wagner said.
Wagner has a .431 slugging percentage this season, carried by the amount of hits and decent amount of doubles, though he only has five homers to this point in the season.
“My game has never been to elevate and hit homeruns. I’ve always been kind of undersized through high school and stuff,” Wagner said. “So when I was in high school, I just learned to hit line drives over the short[stop] and second baseman’s head and just kind of translated through college into pro ball now.”
The 25-year-old played primarily second and third base in college, and stuck to mainly those positions his first couple of seasons in professional ball. This year, he has been playing more first base, starting 32 games there combined to just 20 games at second base.
“Still learning first base, so a lot of things to learn still but I’ve liked it. It’s been a cool transition to first and Suti [Wladimir Sutil] is really good with me and we just get a lot of early work in trying to learn the position,” Wagner said.
Along with the success that Wagner is having personally, the Sugar Land team is having their best season as an affiliate of the Astros. Through 97 games, the Space Cowboys sit at 63-34, well out in front in the Pacific Coast League East Division. They also already secured a playoff spot, clinching the first half with a 49-26 record.
“It’s been awesome. This has probably been one of the best pro ball seasons I’ve ever had,” Wagner said. “It’s just a great team, great coaches. There’s always a good vibe in the clubhouse, even if we’re losing games. But we always come back the next day ready to work.
“I think the biggest thing was this team is that when we go down early, we don’t panic act all and we usually find our way back into the game. So that’s what I love about this team.”
With the major league opportunity just out in front of him, Wagner is trying to just be present, not worry about things he can’t control, and also getting some advice from his dad, Astros great Billy Wagner.
“There’s a lot of people going up and down. Can’t get caught up in that and I think he’s just told me to worry about myself and as long as I’m doing that, good things will happen,” Wagner said.
With the season that Wagner is having, a big league opportunity for him appears to be in his future. Hopefully, that opportunity comes sooner rather than later.
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