Jacob Wilson (born March 30, 2002) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

of Major League Baseball (MLB). Wilson played college baseball for the Grand Canyon Antelopes, and was selected sixth overall by the Athletics in the 2023 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2024.

Amateur career

Wilson attended Thousand Oaks High School in Thousand Oaks, California, where he played for his father Jack Wilson, a former MLB shortstop. He played college baseball at Grand Canyon University. As a freshman at Grand Canyon in 2021, Wilson played in 47 games as a third baseman, hitting .313/.376/.440 with four home runs and 29 runs batted in (RBI). He moved to shortstop his sophomore year in 2022. He hit .358/.418/.585 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI over 59 games that season. In 2022, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Wilson entered the 2023 season as one of the top prospects for the

2023 Major League Baseball draft The 2023 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 9–11, 2023, in Seattle. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. For the first time, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The first six selections ...

. His father also joined the team's coaching staff that season.

Professional career

The

selected Wilson in the first round, with the sixth overall pick, of the 2023 MLB draft. He received a $5.5 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Wilson began his professional career with the High–A Lansing Lugnuts, where he hit .318 in 88 at-bats. He then appeared in 3 games for the rookie–level

Arizona Complex League Athletics The Arizona Complex League Athletics are a Minor League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, which plays as a Rookie-level team in the Arizona Complex League and has served as a farm team for the Oakland Athletics organization since 1988. Th ...

, hitting 5-for-11 with five RBI. To start the 2024 season, Wilson hit .455 with three home runs in 88 at-bats with the Double-A Midland RockHounds before being promoted to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. On July 19, 2024, Wilson was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jacob 2002 births Living people Arizona Complex League Athletics players Baseball players from Los Angeles Baseball players from Thousand Oaks, California Grand Canyon Antelopes baseball players Lansing Lugnuts players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball shortstops Mankato MoonDogs players Midland RockHounds players Oakland Athletics players Orleans Firebirds players Thousand Oaks High School alumni