By Jonah Drew
In the modern baseball landscape, where teams and players prioritize quality of contact over quantity of contact, Jacob Wilson is the antithesis. Jacob Wilson’s success early on spits in the face of every trend in modern baseball. This is nothing new to Wilson though, he has been doing this since back to his days in the WAC with Grand Canyon.
Wilson has always been an elite contact hitter. In his freshman season at GCU, Wilson hit .313 and only struck out 19 times in 182 At Bats, but that was just a glimpse of how far he could take this refusal to strikeout. In 246 Sophomore At Bats, Wilson struck out just 7 times while batting .358 and slugging .585. In his junior year, his draft year, he struck out just 5 times while posting a 1.061 OPS(.411 Avg.). After a remarkable college career, the then Oakland Athletics took a chance on Wilson, selecting the shortstop 6th overall in the 2023 Draft. This was to the dismay of countless critics, nobody was denying his hit tool, but many questioned his upside due to his relatively lower level college competition and lack of impact.
Wilson quickly quieted the doubters in his early pro ball stints though. In 26 minor league games, 23 of which were in High A, he posted a 130 wRC+ with a .391 OBP. After short, but successful minor league season, Jacob Wilson began 2024 in AA and to say he showed out there, would be an understatement. Jacob Wilson slashed .455/.473/.705 with a 226 wRC+ in 22 games at the level. This dominance obviously earned him a promotion to AAA, where he continued to mash. In 26 AAA games, Wilson slashed .396/.448/.613, good for a 159 wRC+. He also notably walked 9 times and struck out only 5 times. After raking through every level of minor league baseball, Wilson earned himself a Big League debut in his first full season as a pro. For the first time in a long time, Wilson struggled a little bit. In his first taste of big league action in 2024, Wilson posted an 86 wRC+ and a measly .315 SLG, just one tick better than his .314 OBP. All of these numbers were far below the standard that Wilson had set for himself.
Coming into 2025, external doubts regarding Wilson began to creep in. He wasn’t hitting the ball hard, he wasn’t drawing walks, many questioned whether or not his methodology was conducive to value and success in modern baseball. Despite this, Jacob Wilson has been absolutely incredible to start the 2025 season. He’s currently slashing an unreal .363/.389/.513, with a 158 wRC+ and 5 home runs, two of which came last night, in a homecoming against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. It is hard to overstate how great Wilson has been thus far. He is often compared to the Padres’ Luis Arraez, who like Wilson, makes an absurd amount of contact but also doesn’t hit the ball extraordinarily hard. There is a fundamental difference between their holistic skill sets though, Arraez almost exclusively plays First Base, a secondary defensive position, and he is a negative defender, even by First Base standards. On the other hand, Wilson is a comfortably positive defender at a premium position, which is extremely valuable in itself. Wilson is the odds on favorite to win American Rookie of the Year, and it would take a fall from grace for Wilson to not take home the honor.
As great of a hitter as Jacob Wilson is, nothing about his offensive profile is conventional. For starters, Wilson refuses to take pitches, he has a 53% Swing Rate and a 33.2% OSwing%. Chasing that much, is not typically something that leads to success but Wilson’s otherworldly bat to ball skills make it possible. He’s currently at an unreal 83.8% Contact rate outside of the zone, and a 91.3% Contact rate overall. Wilson’s bat speed is also extremely slow, averaging 63.2 MPH, which is in the 1st percentile of MLB. Naturally, this slow bat leads to lower exit velocities. Wilson posts an Average Exit Velocity of 86.9 MPH and a Hard Hit Rate of 26.5%, both of which are below 13th percentile. Along with the overwhelming bat to ball ability, Jacob Wilson excels at squaring the ball up on the meat of the bat. He posts a 41.3% Squared-Up rate, which lands him the the 99th percentile. Say what you want about Batting Average and it’s flaws as a stats, I’d even largely agree with you, but there is no denying batting .363 in you’re rookie season is insanely impressive, and all indications are that will continue with his .317 xBA. Jacob Wilson has an unorthodox profile, but it is so wacky that it might just be sustainable.
Sources
Diamond Metrics 
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