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Trained since childhood to never swing and miss, A's phenom Jacob Wilson raps out hit after hit
Trained since childhood to never swing and miss, A's phenom Jacob Wilson raps out hit after hit

New York Times

time2 hours ago

  • Entertainment
  • New York Times

Trained since childhood to never swing and miss, A's phenom Jacob Wilson raps out hit after hit

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Lawrence Butler looked like he was witnessing a World Series walkoff. The Athletics outfielder stood excitedly at the top step of the dugout, his arms raised, his grin widening. Everyone to his left and right — also watching from the top step — joined in on the celebration. Advertisement It was the second inning of a five-run game on April 23. But that didn't matter to Jacob Wilson's teammates, who had anticipated this moment nearly as long as the hitter and rookie shortstop had himself. Then it finally happened: After 87 plate appearances over 24 games, Wilson at last worked a walk. 'To look over and see all the guys freaking out in the dugout, it was pretty fun,' Wilson said. 'It was a cool moment, to get the first one of the year. It took a little bit.' Wilson, the Athletics' young star, started spring training by competing for a job. After a 4-for-4 game Sunday, Wilson is now hitting .357, the best pure hitter in a potent lineup, and the heavy favorite to win American League Rookie of the Year. The No. 6 pick in the 2023 draft has done it despite a minuscule whiff rate, walk rate and hard-hit rate. It's a unique combination of traits that hardly exist elsewhere in the game, but seemingly work for the 23-year-old phenom, and an A's team reliant on his offense. 'Swing and miss has always been not a part of who I am,' Wilson said. 'Since high school, I've been putting the bat on the ball and training my hand-eye coordination. '… If I wasn't getting hits right now, and the batting average was low, I'd probably be taking a lot more (pitches),' Wilson said. 'But right now, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing.' Wilson is the son of former Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson, who retired in 2012. Much of Jacob's early childhood was spent bouncing around big-league clubhouses across his father's stints in Pittsburgh, Seattle and Atlanta. That's where Jack started to coach his son, who would wear the full uniform of his dad's team, and would often travel to whatever city his dad was playing in. Years later, Jack was still his son's coach as the younger Wilson became one of the top prospects before getting selected by the then-Oakland A's. Advertisement The elder Wilson was a very good player in his own right, making an All-Star team and winning a Silver Slugger in 2004. Still, he might not have the ceiling his son does. Already, though, it's clear they share an approach: The Wilsons rarely walk, and they rarely strike out. In his 12-year career, Jack walked at a 5.1 percent clip and struck out 11.6 percent of the time, when the league averages were 8.5 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively. Jacob is even more selective; he has walked in 6.2 percent of his at-bats so far, versus a league average of 8.3 percent, and struck out in a mere 7.1 percent of his appearances, compared to a league that now strikes out 22 percent of the time. Those characteristics are not genetic, however. The bat-on-ball skills were passed down through extensive training utilizing games like stickball and ping pong. Jack was Jacob's coach throughout high school in Thousand Oaks, California. When Jacob played at Grand Canyon University, Jack came on as an assistant coach for Jacob's final season. To this day, the two debrief on the phone after every game. 'The biggest thing we did is probably play stickball,' Jack said. 'Stickball in the backyard with broomsticks. And you had to square up tennis balls. I was throwing what probably seemed like 100 miles per hour to him. 'We always challenged each other, we played against each other. It was a competition.' He struggled mightily on off-speed and breaking pitches in his small big-league sample size last season, whiffing a considerable amount on both. In 2025, he's no longer missing those pitches. Because of that, Jacob Wilson speculates he's begun walking more. After no walks in his first 87 plate appearances, he has 13 walks in 153 appearances since, to go along with just 14 strikeouts this season. The rise in balls, he speculates, has come because pitchers now know to throw him fewer strikes. Advertisement Even as he walks more, he remains a rarely-seen type of player. 'We can identify a few guys, obviously a few of them are in the Hall of Fame. One was named Rod Carew,' said A's manager Mark Kotsay, trying to search for comps to his young infielder. 'That's a pretty good comp.' The easiest present-day comps would be high-average hitters like San Diego's Luis Arraez or Cleveland's Steven Kwan. But even both of those hitters have higher walk rates than Wilson. Many of the other great shortstops in baseball have serious pop. Bobby Witt Jr. is coming off back-to-back 30-home run seasons. Elly De La Cruz, Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager and many others rely on home run power. While Wilson can hit for power — he has seven home runs and a robust .504 slugging percentage — and the unique conditions in Sacramento might assist in home run totals, his slow bat speed, long term, seems likely to lead to a ton of singles and lesser power at a position that's become known for it. 'He hits the ball in a way that's conducive to getting a lot of hits,' said A's All-Star designated hitter Brent Rooker. 'What you're seeing is what he's going to do for the next however many years. It's play a good shortstop, and get a ton of hits, and be a guy that can impact the game on both sides of the ball, but specifically offensively.' There was a stretch earlier this month where Wilson went 0-for-15. Nothing too uncommon for any player. But for Wilson, that slump felt monumental. Base hits are his value in this game, and when it felt like that dried up, and he couldn't produce, it weighed on him. Jack has come to accept that his son will soon far surpass all of his accomplishments. He's good with that. He wants that. He may not have the same level of talent, but after more than a decade in the big leagues, Jack has wisdom to spare. Advertisement 'That's when I was like, 'Alright, this is time for me to step up,'' Jack said. 'He kind of just let it go, he was frustrated. 'I said, 'You have no idea how good this is.' And we're on FaceTime, and he's just looking at me. He's like, 'What are you talking about?' I'm like, 'This isn't the first time you're gonna go 0-for-15 in your career. But the best players in the world find a way to get out of these quicker than everybody else.'' And his father was right. He went 6-for-13 in the immediate aftermath, picking back up where he left off. Which is going from a player with potential to one who's showcasing it on a nightly basis. Making an All-Star game? Winning Rookie of the Year? Becoming the one-day face of the A's? It's all possible, even if he's making it happen in his own unique way. 'I have a lot of belief in myself as a player, having a lot of confidence and belief in yourself that you can do those things,' Wilson said. 'I'm helping my team do whatever they need, and the personal stuff will come.' (Top photo of Jacob Wilson: Mark Blinch / Getty Images)

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