Immaculata Grad Wagner Returns To Area With Somerset Patriots

BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP, NJ —After a standout prep career at Immaculata High School, Brandon Wagner's baseball journey has taken him to places like Big Spring, TX, Charleston, SC, Trenton and Surprise, AZ.

These days, Wagner has come full circle as a member of the Somerset Patriots, the former independent Atlantic League team in its first season as the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. The Patriots' TD Bank Ballpark is approximately 4.2 miles from Wagner's alma mater in Somerville. Though Wagner is from Hopewell.

A sixth-round pick of the Yankees in 2015 out of Howard (TX) College, the 25-year-old Wagner brings a reputation as a versatile player with a solid bat.

"(Wagner) is a player who can play multiple positions for us. He can play first, second or third, so we are going to shuffle him around the infield and give him an opportunity to add more value for himself," Patriots manager Julio Mosquera said ahead of the Double-A Northeast season, which opened on May 4. "He's got a good bat, so he will get a good opportunity here."

Entering Wednesday night's game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Patriots were 5-2, and Wagner had seen action in three games, two of them starts at first base. The 6-foot, 210-pounder was hitting .364 (4-for-11) with two RBIs.

Like most minor league players, Wagner is seeing his first real game action since 2019, after last season was canceled because of the pandemic. Wagner struggled at times during that 2019 campaign, hitting just .177 in Double-A Trenton with eight homers and 37 RBIs.

But the left-handed swinging Wagner did rebound somewhat in the 30-game Arizona Fall League in 2019, leading the league with 21 RBIs.

“Out here I'm trying to be a little more aggressive, swing at the pitches I want to swing at and trying to do damage," Wagner told PinstripeAlley.com while playing for the Surprise Saguaros in the fall of 2019.

Wagner had flashed his potential previously in the minors. In 2018, he hit .267 with 21 home runs in 124 games, mostly for the high Class-A Tampa Tarpons. It was the second-highest home run total of any player in the Yankees' minor league system.

Although Wagner certainly is overshadowed at Somerset by Yankees prospects like outfielder Estevan Florial and pitcher Luis Gil, at least one writer has speculated that Wagner could someday have a role in the Major Leagues. In Feb. of 2020, Paul Woodin of Prospects1500.com listed Wagner as a "Yankees 21 to Watch" beyond the organization's Top 50 prospects. Woodin said the list existed because the Yankees organization was so deep with talent.

"(Wagner) is a classic left-handed hitting corner infield masher. His calling card is above-average power to all field," Woodin wrote. "Wagner was drafted as a third baseman, but has been primarily a first basement. He's a good athlete and his hands are fine, but he lacks the range for second and the quickness for third. However, the Yankees have been working him at those spots."

Woodin added: "Wagner strikes me as a potential National League bench bat. A lefty pinch-hitter who can put a mistake in the seats, play some first base and maybe left field, and also fill in at third base in a pinch."