The Oakland A’s will soon call up shortstop Jacob Wilson, one of their top prospects, almost exactly a year after he was drafted, Martín Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
In January of this year, our own R.J. Anderson ranked Wilson as the No. 3 prospect in the A’s system, two spots behind Mason Miller, who emerged as a dominating lockdown closer this season. Here’s part of Anderson’s write-up on Wilson:
Wilson, the sixth pick last July, was the NCAA’s toughest hitter to strike out. He kept making contact at high rates as a professional, connecting on 88% of his swings in High-A. There’s no doubting Wilson’s bat-to-ball skills, or his glove work at shortstop. (His father Jack played more than a decade in the majors because of his own leather.) The rest of his game is more of an open question. He doesn’t hit the ball with any authority (in part because of an unsynced swing that has him load his hands before he begins to stride), and talent evaluators have questioned if opposing pitchers will pummel him with strikes unless and/or until he proves he can burn them. For an example of how that skill set can go awry, take a look at Kevin Newman’s Baseball Reference page.
Wilson, 22, has spent the 2024 season to date primarily at the Double- and Triple-A levels. plus a brief June stint in rookie ball as he got back up to speed following an injury. Across those three levels, he’s batted .438/.475/.687 with seven home runs and 25 doubles in 46 games. That includes a 1.083 OPS in 19 games at Triple-A Las Vegas. All of that comes after a productive debut season in 2023.
This season, the last-place A’s have struggled to get adequate production from the shortstop position. The club’s shortstops in 2024 have combined for a slash line of .204/.289/.277, although recent regular Max Schuemann has been an improvement. The expectation is that Wilson will give them an upgrade even as he adjusts to pitching at the highest level of baseball.
