A's Jacob Wilson Has Solid Debut in 2023

The Oakland A's finished with the second-worst record in baseball in 2022, but with MLB's new draft lottery system, the team fell to pick number six in the 2023 MLB Draft. With that selection, the A's took 21-year-old shortstop Jacob Wilson, and based off of limited playing time in pro ball, he's making the team look good with their choice. 

Wilson spent most of his time in High-A with the Lansing Lugnuts, batting .318 with a .378 OBP in 23 games. He also smacked his first professional home run, swiped four bags, and struck out just ten times in 99 plate appearances. Being able to limit strikeouts was one of his major calling cards coming out of the Draft, having struck out in just 4.4% of his plate appearances in college.

Back in high school Wilson played for his dad, former Major Leaguer Jack Wilson, who spent 12 seasons in the big leagues, including nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 2000s. Jack Wilson was also the head coach when the A's took Max Muncy in the first round of the 2021 Draft. 

It appears as though both Jacob Wilson and Muncy played three seasons together in high school with Jack as their head coach each season. Muncy is also listed as Maxamillion, Max, and Maxwell on the site. 

Both players are 21, and both are shortstops. The nice thing about drafting shortstops is that they tend to be more athletic and able to move around the field to a new position. One of these two could be destined to land at third base with Zack Gelof entrenching himself at second for the time being. Gelof could also end up moving to third due to his offensive profile, allowing Muncy and Wilson to take command of the middle infield. 

But that will be a problem to solve in a couple of seasons, even with Wilson expected to move quickly through the system and Muncy already having reached Double-A, playing in 51 games with Midland in 2023. 

For now, Wilson looks like a solid selection that will need a little refining as he climbs towards the big leagues, but that's to be expected. He will be entering the 2024 season as Oakland's top prospect, with Muncy not too far behind at #7. Wilson is also currently listed as MLB Pipeline's #76 overall prospect. 

It will be interesting to see where the A's have Wilson begin the 2024 campaign, since Lansing has proven to be a fairly tough place to generate offense in the first month or so of the season the past couple of years. Tyler Soderstrom's bat woke up when the weather got warmer in Lansing in 2022, and Muncy hit .235 with a .312 OBP through May this season, then started mashing his way to Texas. 

With that in mind, do the A's bump Wilson up to Midland to begin the year, perhaps even pairing the duo up the middle, or do they start him in Lansing with the thought that his bat to ball skills will help him get off to a better start than the previous two top prospects? 

We'll have to wait and see. 

Fun fact: Wilson and A's first baseman Ryan Noda have the same birthday, March 30th, though not in the same year.