Multi-Faceted Wainhouse Fitting In Everywhere For Huskies
November 04, 2016 | Baseball
By Brian Tom
It's hard to miss Joe Wainhouse when he's standing amongst his Husky Baseball teammates. The junior, who most recently attended Bellevue College before joining the Huskies this fall, is the one who looks like a prototypical NFL defensive end when lined up next to the rest of his teammates.
The 6-foot-6, 245-pounder doesn't just stand out because of his hulking size. You also can't miss him on the baseball field because he is seemingly everywhere.
Wainhouse is trying to pull off the difficult task of becoming a two-way player for coach Lindsay Meggs, which no one has ever done in his eight years at Washington. He is hoping to become the Huskies first significant two-way player since Brian Pearl started 25 games in the field and pitched in 10 games in 2008.
Pearl started at Washington in 2007 as an infielder, transitioned to become a two-way player in 2008, before ending his UW career strictly as a relief pitcher. Pearl eventually was a ninth-round draft pick and spent six years pitching in the minors.
In the decade since Pearl, there has been an occasional pitcher that has taken some hacks at the plate and dabbled on the mound, but no one has seen equal action on the hill and at the plate for the Huskies. Wainhouse is hoping to change that, and so is the UW coaching staff.
"This guy can hit the ball 500 feet," said Meggs. "He's hit some unbelievable tape jobs already. He's a presence in the batter's box and somebody that you'd like to see in the middle of the batting order because it's going to make it tough on people to pitch around other guys."
At the same time, Wainhouse could be a dominating presence on the mound, says his coach.
"He has back of the bullpen stuff. He can get it up to 95 miles per hour and has a good cutter and he's a pretty intimidating presence on the mound, so you could see him closing."
Wainhouse has all the tools to be a legitimate two-way threat on the diamond. He swings the bat from the left-side of the plate and throws right handed. Right now, he's just trying to figure out where he fits in and during fall ball, and that means Wainhouse was probably the busiest guy on the team running in all different directions.
"You have to be committed to it because there's not really any down time throughout practice," Wainhouse said. "You have to do extra stuff and make sure you can get everything done for both sides of the game."
He also is learning that you have to be mentally prepared.
"You just have to be able to flip a switch," Wainhouse said, "because if you're hitting all game, you have to be able to change your mindset on the fly and go pitch. I learned how to do that pretty well at Bellevue and lock in when I need to, but I also made a connection between the two. Hitting helps me pitch and pitching helps me hit. I can understand the game better from the other perspective."
For Wainhouse, all the back and forth on the field is relatively new. He grew up mostly playing first base and did not really start taking pitching seriously until his senior year at Kentridge High School. He found he enjoyed being on the hill during his final year and was hopeful of playing both ways in college.
Instead, he found himself mostly used as a first baseman/designated hitter as a freshman at Ole Miss, the SEC powerhouse he signed with out of high school. He played one year in Oxford, Miss. before deciding to move back closer to home and Bellevue College. It was there that he started to truly concentrate on multi-tasking on the field, making Wainhouse relatively raw and inexperienced when it comes to playing both ways.
"I had honestly never really worked on it at all," Wainhouse said about honing his pitching skills to catch up with his hitting acumen. "I threw bullpens and stuff, but never really committed to it until last fall. So I've been working on it a lot since then and that's when I really started to do it a lot more and now it's one of my favorite things."
Some might have wondered why Wainhouse didn't gravitate to pitching earlier in his life. After all his father, Dave, pitched in 85 games over seven seasons in the Major Leagues, including 1993 with the local Seattle Mariners. But the younger Wainhouse says he never felt any pressure to play baseball, let alone to toe the hill as a kid.
"My parents did a great job of never really making me feel like it was something I had to do," Wainhouse said. "It also may have helped growing up and not really being a pitcher. I've never felt any pressure to do what he did. He's never acted like that."
While there might have been no pressure to play baseball growing up, both his parents went to Washington State, so there had to be some pressure to follow in their footsteps for college, right?
"They were fine," Wainhouse laughed. "Dad was actually the only one in his family that didn't go to UW. All of his brothers and sisters were Huskies. My mom was fine with it too, but two weeks before school started she was like, 'Wait, you're going to UW.' It never really hit her until then. It was funny."
Now that he's at Washington, Wainhouse is settling in nicely. He says the veterans are doing a great job of acclimating the newcomers and that the team has bonded really well. Unlike most players on the team, he is trying to find his niche with both the pitchers and the hitters. Coach Meggs is trying to figure out where Wainhouse fits in exactly too.
"We really don't know exactly how that's going to go," Meggs said about whether he will pitch or hit more.
"He can do both. He might emerge being so much better on one side or the other that we might just ride him one way, but right now, it's fun to coach him. Both options are good and he could really help us either way."
Wherever Wainhouse ends up on the field, ultimately he just wants to grow as a player and help his team reach the College World Series. And in a lot of ways, Wainhouse's development is a lot like the Husky Baseball program. Full of talent and ready to blossom.
"I'm developing for sure," he said. "I'm still learning how to really do it. I'm understanding it more now, but still just getting there."
Once Wainhouse finally figures it all out and fully arrives, you can bet he's going to be a big problem for the other team and a huge asset for the Huskies.
It's hard to miss Joe Wainhouse when he's standing amongst his Husky Baseball teammates. The junior, who most recently attended Bellevue College before joining the Huskies this fall, is the one who looks like a prototypical NFL defensive end when lined up next to the rest of his teammates.
The 6-foot-6, 245-pounder doesn't just stand out because of his hulking size. You also can't miss him on the baseball field because he is seemingly everywhere.
Wainhouse is trying to pull off the difficult task of becoming a two-way player for coach Lindsay Meggs, which no one has ever done in his eight years at Washington. He is hoping to become the Huskies first significant two-way player since Brian Pearl started 25 games in the field and pitched in 10 games in 2008.
Pearl started at Washington in 2007 as an infielder, transitioned to become a two-way player in 2008, before ending his UW career strictly as a relief pitcher. Pearl eventually was a ninth-round draft pick and spent six years pitching in the minors.
In the decade since Pearl, there has been an occasional pitcher that has taken some hacks at the plate and dabbled on the mound, but no one has seen equal action on the hill and at the plate for the Huskies. Wainhouse is hoping to change that, and so is the UW coaching staff.
"This guy can hit the ball 500 feet," said Meggs. "He's hit some unbelievable tape jobs already. He's a presence in the batter's box and somebody that you'd like to see in the middle of the batting order because it's going to make it tough on people to pitch around other guys."
At the same time, Wainhouse could be a dominating presence on the mound, says his coach.
"He has back of the bullpen stuff. He can get it up to 95 miles per hour and has a good cutter and he's a pretty intimidating presence on the mound, so you could see him closing."
Wainhouse has all the tools to be a legitimate two-way threat on the diamond. He swings the bat from the left-side of the plate and throws right handed. Right now, he's just trying to figure out where he fits in and during fall ball, and that means Wainhouse was probably the busiest guy on the team running in all different directions.
"You have to be committed to it because there's not really any down time throughout practice," Wainhouse said. "You have to do extra stuff and make sure you can get everything done for both sides of the game."
He also is learning that you have to be mentally prepared.
"You just have to be able to flip a switch," Wainhouse said, "because if you're hitting all game, you have to be able to change your mindset on the fly and go pitch. I learned how to do that pretty well at Bellevue and lock in when I need to, but I also made a connection between the two. Hitting helps me pitch and pitching helps me hit. I can understand the game better from the other perspective."
For Wainhouse, all the back and forth on the field is relatively new. He grew up mostly playing first base and did not really start taking pitching seriously until his senior year at Kentridge High School. He found he enjoyed being on the hill during his final year and was hopeful of playing both ways in college.
Instead, he found himself mostly used as a first baseman/designated hitter as a freshman at Ole Miss, the SEC powerhouse he signed with out of high school. He played one year in Oxford, Miss. before deciding to move back closer to home and Bellevue College. It was there that he started to truly concentrate on multi-tasking on the field, making Wainhouse relatively raw and inexperienced when it comes to playing both ways.
"I had honestly never really worked on it at all," Wainhouse said about honing his pitching skills to catch up with his hitting acumen. "I threw bullpens and stuff, but never really committed to it until last fall. So I've been working on it a lot since then and that's when I really started to do it a lot more and now it's one of my favorite things."
Some might have wondered why Wainhouse didn't gravitate to pitching earlier in his life. After all his father, Dave, pitched in 85 games over seven seasons in the Major Leagues, including 1993 with the local Seattle Mariners. But the younger Wainhouse says he never felt any pressure to play baseball, let alone to toe the hill as a kid.
"My parents did a great job of never really making me feel like it was something I had to do," Wainhouse said. "It also may have helped growing up and not really being a pitcher. I've never felt any pressure to do what he did. He's never acted like that."
While there might have been no pressure to play baseball growing up, both his parents went to Washington State, so there had to be some pressure to follow in their footsteps for college, right?
"They were fine," Wainhouse laughed. "Dad was actually the only one in his family that didn't go to UW. All of his brothers and sisters were Huskies. My mom was fine with it too, but two weeks before school started she was like, 'Wait, you're going to UW.' It never really hit her until then. It was funny."
Now that he's at Washington, Wainhouse is settling in nicely. He says the veterans are doing a great job of acclimating the newcomers and that the team has bonded really well. Unlike most players on the team, he is trying to find his niche with both the pitchers and the hitters. Coach Meggs is trying to figure out where Wainhouse fits in exactly too.
"We really don't know exactly how that's going to go," Meggs said about whether he will pitch or hit more.
"He can do both. He might emerge being so much better on one side or the other that we might just ride him one way, but right now, it's fun to coach him. Both options are good and he could really help us either way."
Wherever Wainhouse ends up on the field, ultimately he just wants to grow as a player and help his team reach the College World Series. And in a lot of ways, Wainhouse's development is a lot like the Husky Baseball program. Full of talent and ready to blossom.
"I'm developing for sure," he said. "I'm still learning how to really do it. I'm understanding it more now, but still just getting there."
Once Wainhouse finally figures it all out and fully arrives, you can bet he's going to be a big problem for the other team and a huge asset for the Huskies.
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