The next player up in our “Season in Review” series is rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson. The runner-up Rookie of the Year made a name for himself quickly in 2025.
Jacob Wilson was the first-round pick, sixth overall, of the 2023 MLB June Amateur Draft from Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Arizona. He played three seasons for GCU and parts of two seasons moving through the A’s farm teams in Lansing, Midland, and Las Vegas before being called up to his first stint with the A’s in July of 2024.
What were the expectations?
Being the A’s top draft choice in 2023 coupled with being the son of a successful major league ball player (Jack Wilson) the expectations on young Jacob were high. The A’s haven’t had a consistently solid shortstop since Marcus Semien departed for Toronto after the covid-shortened 2020 season. After a short stint with the big-league club in 2024, he opened the season with the A’s in 2025.
Jacob Wilson was the A’s opening day shortstop in 2025 and his season started off with a bang. On April 1 he was batting .300, and his average never dipped below that mark all season. He finished third in the American League with a .311 average. He was named the starting shortstop of the 2025 AL All-star team. When all was said and done, despite missing time with a broken bone in his right forearm he finished second only to Nick Kurtz in the American League Rookie of the Year award.
Wilson goes into the 2026 season knowing that he’ll be in the starting nine and likely at or near the top of the lineup. But there is still the biggest question of what his future position may be. Even his staunchest supporters question whether he has the range to be a top-fielding MLB shortstop. The question is compounded by the fact that Leo De Vries, the system’s highest rated shortstop, is speeding his way through the minors and could land on the A’s roster later this year. The talk throughout AN is that Wilson ends up as an everyday third baseman or even potentially a second baseman if Gelof continues to flounder. But without a crystal ball all we know that if he stays healthy, Jacob Wilson will be an important part of the A’s starting lineup.