Wilson was an All-WAC first-team member after his 2021 freshman season. While handling the hot corner for Grand Canyon University over 47 games, Wilson hit .313/.376/.440 with four home runs and 11 doubles, while walking (17) almost as many times as he struck out (19). 

In 2022, Jacob continued to show excellent contact ability, with a .358/.418/.585 slash line, 12 home runs, 18 doubles and just seven strikeouts—good for a miniscule 2.5% strikeout rate.

Wilson showed off his barrel skills and flashed some power with Team USA over the summer in 2022 and was one of the best hitters on the club, hitting .364/.462/.455 in six games.

The key lesson that Jacob learned from his father, Jack is about how to handle the ups and downs of the game.

“The one thing that he taught me the most that has really stuck with me is just to never get really frustrated,” Wilson said. “It’s a hard game. It’s a game based around failure. The guys who are best today . . . they move on, they don’t live in the moment.”

Perhaps the most important lesson Wilson has learned from his father can be summed up in one short sentence.

“Stay positive and keep playing baseball and stay within yourself.”

July 2023: The A's chose Jacob in the first round (#6 overall), out of Grand Canyon University in Arizona. Wilson signed for $5.5 million, under slot, which was $6,634,000, via scout Jeff Urlaub.

In 2024, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Jacob as the A's 3rd-best prospect. He was at #2, behind only 1B Nick Kurtz, in 2025.

MLB debut (July 19, 2024). Jacob made his MLB debut.

MLB debut (second one) Aug 27, 2024: Not every Major Leaguer gets a chance to do his Major League debut all over again. But for all intents and purposes, Jacob got that opportunity at Great American Ball Park.

Wilson collected his second big league hit and threw out a runner at the plate as he enjoyed the experience of finishing a game for the first time in Oakland’s 5-4 win. On July 19 in Oakland, his big league debut ended nearly as quickly as it began. After a single off Angels starter Griffin Canning in his first Major League plate appearance, Wilson strained his left hamstring running the bases and had to leave the game.

The 22-year-old shortstop was reinstated from the injured list before the game, batted ninth, and went 1-for-4 with a bloop hit in the seventh that preceded Lawrence Butler’s Statcast-projected 444-foot homer to right-center that put the A’s up, 4-1. Wilson's two assists on ground balls in the second inning saved a run and kept the game scoreless. That’s not to say he didn’t have a little help from his teammates, as catcher Shea Langeliers picked his throw to the plate out of the dirt to apply the tag on TJ Friedl.

“Shea made a great pick,” Wilson said. “He picked me up. And I was just saying, ‘Great play!’”

So, his “second debut” went pretty well, and he was around for the final handshake, unlike on July 19 when he was just an observer to Oakland’s 13-3 win.

“The first one obviously got cut short with the hamstring injury,” Wilson said. “I got one at-bat, a couple ground balls. But today definitely felt like a second debut day, for sure.”  (M Petraglia - MLB.com - Aug 28, 2024)

Sept 16, 2024: “You have to have the same at-bats in every spot in the lineup,” Wilson said. “So for me, it was just go out there, have competitive bats, and I obviously got on base for Rook. That's how we put up runs in the third inning. It was a pretty cool night for sure.”

Making it even cooler for Wilson is that his dad, Jack, was in the stands. Jack is no stranger to Wrigley, having played 51 games there across his 12 seasons in the Majors. Jack hit 34 triples during his career, including a National League-leading 12 in 2004. But he never tallied one at the Friendly Confines.

“That’s a bragging moment right there, for sure,” Jacob Wilson said with a smile. “I’ll for sure run it by him. We try to be competitive as much as we can. To know that I have that edge on him, it’s pretty cool.” (T Stebbins - MLB.com - Sept 16, 2024)

March 24, 2025: Bulking up by about 15 pounds this offseason, Wilson arrived to camp with newfound strength. The A’s No. 1 prospect (No. 31 in baseball according to MLB Pipeline) is generating much higher exit velocities and led the team with four home runs this spring. While the extra pop is encouraging, the elite bat-to-ball skills are what continue to stand out, as he struck out just twice in 53 plate appearances.

Kotsay: It’s the same Jacob as advertised that we’ve seen. He’s a bat-to-ball guy and hits the ball the majority of the time. … He’s a guy that knows where the barrel is, and he finds it quite a bit. Defensively, he’s as advertised at shortstop. He’s going to catch the ball and make the plays.” (M Gallegos - MLB.com - March 24, 2025) 

2025 Opening Day: Max Muncy and Jacob Wilson will stand along the third-base line at T-Mobile Park during the national anthem, each soaking in their first A's Opening Day. They will also likely begin the season as double-play partners for the Athletics.

For most baseball fans, this will be their first time seeing Muncy and Wilson, two highly regarded prospects in the A’s system, sharing a field. It certainly marks the first occasion the two have done so in the big leagues, as Muncy -- rated the A’s No. 7 prospect by MLB Pipeline -- will make his Major League debut after learning over the weekend that he made the club’s Opening Day roster.

 What is a new sight for most will be a nostalgia trip for Jack Wilson.

The former All-Star Pirates shortstop and father of Jacob, Jack played an integral role in the development of Muncy and Wilson as their head coach at Thousand Oaks High School in Southern California.

Jacob is five months older than Muncy, but because Muncy’s advanced talents allowed him to play up a level, the two often played against each other in travel ball. When it came time for Muncy to attend high school in 2017, his father, Mike suggested that Max transfer out of the school district from their home of Camarillo to attend Thousand Oaks, where Jack had just taken over as head coach.

“My dad watched a lot of baseball and knew how good of a player he was,” Muncy said of Jack. “I remember him telling me, ‘Hey, if you’re serious about this baseball thing, this is where you have to go.’ I didn’t know a single person at Thousand Oaks when I first got there. First day of school, I just knew Jack Wilson.”

Muncy was placed on the freshman team to start. Less than a month later, his dominance forced his way through JV and, eventually, varsity.

“I brought him up for intrasquads,” said Jack. “First game, we had our senior starter, who was our ace on the mound. I purposely took Max up against him, and he hit an absolute nuke to left field. He stayed up ever since.” Joining the varsity squad meant Muncy was finally on the same team as Jacob. However, since the team was already stacked at infield with seniors at third base and shortstop, and Wilson a sophomore second baseman, Muncy moved to the outfield to end his freshman year.

With the infield opening up for the 2018-19 season, Muncy took over as the everyday shortstop, fortifying the middle of the infield for Thousand Oaks alongside Wilson for the entire year and leading the Lancers to the second round of the 2019 CIF Southern Section Division 2 Baseball Championships.

Poised for an even greater 2019-20 campaign, Muncy and Wilson began alternating between shortstop and second base through an 8-0 start before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilson was a senior and set to attend Grand Canyon University, while Muncy still had a year of high school left. “They pushed each other a lot in high school,” Wilson said. “Where they were at in high school, I felt like both of them were going to be very successful in the game, just because of their passion for wanting to be great. That's what pushes a lot of guys over the top. … Both of those guys were very good off-the-field workers.”

Muncy stuck around and starred for a Thousand Oaks team that won the 2021 Southern Section Division 2 championship, then moved off a commitment to the University of Arkansas after the A’s selected him 25th overall in the 2021 MLB Draft.

Though their baseball journeys took different paths in college, they remained linked through Jack, who set up what was, essentially, a training facility at the Wilson family home with an infield turf in the backyard, a batting cage and a gym. Each offseason, up until a few months ago when Wilson sold the house, Muncy would come back to Southern California and train at the Wilson house. (Martín Gallegos - March 26, 2025 - athletics.com)

How did Fortnite turned Athletics’ Jacob Wilson into one of MLB’s best hitters?

Who says video games are bad for kids? Fortnite has helped turn Athletics rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson into one of the premier hitters in the game.

Wilson explained to ESPN’s Jeff Passan that he plays the popular video game as soon as he gets up in the morning. Wilson described how playing Fortnite helps his in-game decision-making.

“Kids are going to love this one. Parents are going to hate me. I am a big believer in video games. It’s fast decision-making strategy,” Wilson said. “I think that gets me ready for the game, because when you’re in the box, you have to process a lot. So there’s some days where I’ll wake up and I’ll play video games and then I’ll go to the field, and I’ll have a good day. Some days I won’t play and don’t see the ball well. I think it really helps me train kind of the decision-making that I have to make six, seven hours later at the baseball field.”

Wilson has used Fortnite to help with his baseball skills for years. His father, 12-year MLB veteran Jack Wilson, was initially concerned the game was interfering with his son’s development in high school before coming around.

“I do believe in the hand-eye coordination that video games give — as long as you do your homework,” Jack told Passan. “Kids, if you’re reading, do your homework.”

Jacob is currently slashing .347/.388/.487 with a 145 OPS+. He has 104 hits on the season with 15 doubles and nine home runs.

What’s incredible about Wilson’s game is he rarely walks or strikes out. In 323 plate appearances, he’s struck out just 22 times while drawing only 18 walks. He has the lowest strikeout rate in baseball at 6.8% while ranking in the 19th percentile with a 5.6% walk rate. (Matt Higgins - June 26, 2025 - MLB)

Wilson and Bobby Witt Jr. were the Phase 2 finalists, with the young A's star edging the Royals supernova 52 percent to 48 percent.

Despite the A’s 36-53 record, Wilson’s spot at the Midsummer Classic on July 15 at Truist Park in Atlanta comes as no surprise. 

Wilson leads AL shortstops in batting average (.339), hits (108) and strikeout percentage (7.6) over halfway through the 2025 MLB season and is second in OBP (.380), OPS (.853) and wRC+ (138). Wilson also is tied with the Astros’ Jeremy Peña for the fifth most RBI among AL shortstops with 40.

Wilson is also the second-ever rookie shortstop to start an All-Star Game, joining the Orioles' Ron Hansen, who achieved the feat in 1960. (Joaquin Ruiz - NBC)

Wilson makes a whole lot of hard contact. In addition to having the sharp batting eye and bat-to-ball skills that make it such that he almost never strikes out. He has double-plus, 70 grade hit tool, but only 40 grade power.

Jacob greets opposing pitchers with a slightly open stance and a fearsome combination of power, advanced contact ability and a sound approach. Kurtz already has some of the best raw power in the Athletics’ system. While he’s capable of hitting towering blasts, he doesn’t sell out for power. Instead, he has a fairly compact swing that yields ample contact, allowing his strong hands and wrists to whip the bat through the zone and hit to all fields. Kurtz has a very discerning eye and posted a .510 on-base percentage with 59 more walks than strikeouts in three college seasons. If anything, he can become overly passive at times. External evaluators had at least some concern about how Kurtz’s lower half and load may impact his ability to tap into pull-side power. (JJ Cooper - Baseball America Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2025)

2023 Season: Wilson had arguably the best pure contact skills in the 2023 class. He’s a plus hitter who virtually never swings and misses and had a 94% contact rate during the 2023 season with Grand Canyon. Those skills translated to his first taste of pro ball as well. Wilson hit .333 with a home run and 13 RBI in 26 games in his professional debut with the A’s ACL affiliate and High-A Lansing.

2024 Season: SS Jacob Wilson (A's No. 1 prospect/ MLB No. 24)

Wilson forced his way to the big leagues just 376 days after he was selected sixth overall by the A's in the 2023 MLB Draft by slashing a combined .401/.446/.606 over 307 total Minor League at-bats.

After sustaining a hamstring injury in his Major League debut that caused him to miss over a month, Wilson made his way back in August and finished the season with the A’s, hitting .250 (23-for-92) with only 10 strikeouts in 103 plate appearances. Between his 70-grade hit tool showing through and solid defense, Wilson should enter next season as the expected starting shortstop from day one.

“Overall, he catches the ball really well,” manager Mark Kotsay said of Wilson. “He’s got a strong arm. The bat has shown up enough to where we know he can hit. I think that at 22, he’s only going to get bigger, stronger and faster. We talk a lot about when young men hit their man strength. He’s got ways to go before he gets there. It’ll be exciting to watch that growth from a young player that handles himself pretty well right now in the big leagues.” (M Gallegos - MLB.com - Oct 21, 2024)

Wilson’s knack for contact is other-worldly. He left Grand Canyon University with an absurd 4.4 percent strikeout rate (2.3 percent in 2023).

That carried over to his pro debut, when he struck out in just 9.9 percent of his plate appearances. There has been some concern over the lack of impact and lower exit velocities, but the A’s are not worried and feel that as he adds strength and learns he can use his incredible eye to work better counts, he’ll naturally drive the ball more as he swings at more heart pitches. (Spring 2024)

Jacob's hallmark ability has long been his freakish bat-to-ball skills which carried into his professional debut. He’s a twitchy athlete and greets pitchers in a unique manner. He employs an open stance and a bouncy pre-pitch routine before settling into a crouch as the pitch is delivered and lashing at the ball. He rarely misses, especially on pitches within the strike zone. The operation results in plenty of contact—but not all of the contact was particularly hard or on the barrel. Wilson posted below-average exit velocities in his debut and has faced concerns about his power output dating back to his college career.

Wilson is aware of the criticisms and has shown some predilection for pull-side launch, and the A’s are optimistic more power could come once he adds muscle to his frame after rarely lifting weights as an amateur. He’ll also have to find the right balance between trusting his contact ability and chasing suboptimal offerings on the edges of the zone as he faces better pitchers.  (Mark Chiarelli - Baseball America Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2024)

Jacob has a plus hit tool and is now growing into some power.

“He’s already put on some strength, and he’s going to put on more,” A’s hitting coordinator Jim Eppard said. “I’m a firm believer that if you’re not super strong and a line-drive hitter, when you get stronger, those gap balls are going out of the park.” 

Eppard predicts that Wilson will reach average or possibly plus power as he progresses.  

“I love his approach. He uses the whole field,” Eppard said. “He’s more of a line-drive hitter. He’s kind of Jeter-like in that he stays inside the ball and takes it to right field.” 

“He’s a super kid,” Eppard said. “He comes to the cage with a smile on his face. He shows fire on the field. He’s competitive.” (Casey Tefertiller - Baseball America - April, 2024)

Wilson, whose dad followed him to Grand Canyon and was an assistant coach for the 2023 season, has an intriguing combination of baseball IQ and tools. He might be one of the better pure hitters in the class, one who consistently finds the barrel and struck out in just 4.4 percent of his plate appearances during his college career. While there has been some concern over his ability to impact the ball, he did tap into his power some, smashing 12 homers and slugging .585 in 2022 and .635 this past spring. (BA - Spring 2023)

You might not think that power would be part of Wilson’s game but he’s proven otherwise. He consistently finds the barrel and struck out just seven times in 275 plate appearances as a sophomore. He’s starting to tap into his power more consistently.

Jacob is an extreme contact-oriented bat. It is the elite contact skills that separate Wilson. He is very hard to strike out!

Wilson’s aversion to striking out comes in part from the influence of his father Jack, a 12-year major league shortstop and now an assistant coach at Grand Canyon. The elder Wilson struck out just 11.6% of the tie.

“My dad also hated striking out,” Wilson said. “That’s something I really gained from him . . . My dad really built that into me as a baseball player.”

Wilson attributes his outstanding bat control and strike-zone awareness to one other game he played growing up.

“I’ve always played a lot of ping pong,” Wilson said, “and a lot of sports that require hand-eye coordination, so I trained that ability my entire life.”

e’s now working out regularly in the weight room, and his power to all fields is on the rise. Scouts project that he will have above-average raw power in time.

“As he gets older and stronger,” Wallis said, “those balls are going to start leaving the yard because he makes such consistent contact and hard contact . . . It’s just a matter of time before the opposite-field home runs come as well.” (Bill Mitchell - Baseball America - Feb. 2023)

Spring 2023: The son of former Pirate and Cardinal infielder Jack Wilson, Jacob was one of the toughest hitters to strike out in all of Division I last year, with just 7 punchouts in 275 plate appearances for Grand Canyon University, although he doesn’t face much high-end pitching playing in the WAC. He’s a no-doubt shortstop with a chance to hit for average but probably grade 40/45 power, a very safe bet once the first few college bats are off the board.(Law - Mar 3, 2023- The Athletic)

2024 Season: Just a year after being drafted sixth overall and flying up the A’s minor-league ranks, Jacob Wilson made his debut in Oakland last year, notched his first MLB hit in his first game – and strained his hamstring rounding the bases, requiring a trip to the injured list. He made it back in time for the end of the franchise’s final season at the Coliseum, and good thing, because he’s supposed to be a big part of their first one in Sacramento. Fangraphs’ depth charts project Wilson for 546 plate appearances in 2025 – and to finish second on the team in WAR behind only Brent Rooker.

Why so bullish? For starters, no, you are not misreading the italicized text under this section’s heading: Jacob Wilson made contact on 98.9% of his swings in the strike zone. To put that into context, one of the trademarks of being an elite contact hitter is not missing on swings in the zone. A select few hitters – only a handful – will ever post a zone contact rate over 90% in any given season. Luis Arraez, the one hitter in baseball that has made a living off hitting for average above anything else, has a career zone-contact rate of 93.8%. Wilson was a decimal point away from 99% at AAA last year. He swung and missed at 1% of pitches over the heart of the plate as well. Both these marks obviously led all AAA hitters with that 100-batted-ball threshold.

Sample size is obviously important to consider here. The A’s called him up to AAA after just 22 games at AA, and he only played 26 games there before being moved along to the big club. It’s unlikely that he comes in and leads the league in hits and average, but the fact that it’s even a remote possibility for someone who was drafted less than two calendar years ago with just 103 MLB plate appearances to their name is a testament to the unique skillset Wilson possesses.

As with most players of this archetype, his power numbers lag behind and his plate discipline isn’t that impressive either – you can’t notch all those hits without being a little bit of a free swinger – but it would also be unfair to simply label Wilson a slap hitter. His AAA batted ball data indicates an above-average rate of pulled fly balls and an optimal distribution of contact between 95 and 105 MPH, which are two traits essential for outpacing expected home run totals based on exit velocity. He also racked up 28 doubles across just 226 minor-league plate appearances last year.

The Athletics are somewhat aimless at the moment, set to call a minor league park home for the next few years and no confirmed date yet for their much-anticipated move to Las Vegas. Wilson, Baseball America’s 38th-ranked prospect in the game, should be a fixture for whatever comes their way next. (Matthew Creally - Feb. 25, 2025 - Pitcher List)

June 20, 2025: Wilson has a major league-leading 32 multi-hit games this season. According to a tweet from Sarah Langs on "X" (@SlangsOnSports), that is the fifth-most by a rookie through a team's first 77 games in the expansion era (1961-present).

Ichiro Suzuki had the most in that span with 38 in 2001. Tony Oliva had 36 in 1964, Juan Samuel had 34 in 1984, and Manny Jimenez had 33 in 1962. (Teren Kowatsch - SI)

2025 Season: Wilson began the year viewed as an early frontrunner for the award, battling it out with Judge for the AL batting title and becoming the first fan-elected rookie shortstop to start an All-Star Game.

He challenged Judge for the AL batting title up until the final week of the regular season, finishing the year tied for second among all AL hitters with a .311 batting average, and that mark likely would have been higher had he not played through injury, going on a 4-for-38 (.105) slump in the nine games following a fractured right forearm sustained on July 8 -- he landed on the injured list a week later.

Wilson led all Major League rookies in batting average and hits (151). Striking out just 39 times, his average of 13.41 plate appearances per strikeout was the best of any hitter in the AL, and he likely would have been the easy pick here had he been a rookie in any other year. The real question will be where he ends up in the voting. If Wilson and Kurtz finish first and second in Rookie of the Year voting in either order, they would become just the ninth set of teammates to do so and the first in the AL since 1984 Mariners teammates Alvin Davis and Mark Langston.  – Martín Gallegos  (Nov 9, 2025 - MLB.com)

Jacob transitioned to shortstop in 2022 in college.

A wiry athlete, Wilson’s range at shortstop didn’t grade particularly well in his big league debut, a 50 grade, but he has sound hands and an above-average 55 grade arm. The A’s would like to see him add a bit more strength to help improve durability. (Cooper - BAPH - Spring, 2025)

While he’s an average runner, Wilson’s hands, actions, instincts and IQ, not to mention his above-average arm, all point to a long-term future at shortstop. He has an extremely high floor because of his contact skills and steady defensive presence, and a step forward with offensive impact could move him to another level. (Spring 2024)

A fringy-to-average runner, Wilson has the skills to stick at shortstop, with good actions, range and an above-average arm. He might not have the pure power profile should he have to slide over to third base, where he played as a freshman, but the contact and pitch recognition skills should enable him to reach the big leagues in a hurry regardless of where he plays defensively. (Spring 2023)

Wilson has the skills to stick at shortstop, with good actions, range and an above-average arm. He might not have the pure power profile if he has to slide over to third base.

May 18-June 25, 2024: Wilson was on the IL.

July 20-Aug 27, 2024: Jacob was on the IL with strained left knee patella tendinitis. Wilson was held out of the starting lineup after he sustained a left hamstring strain in his Major League debut.