Two weeks after he was the American League’s starting shortstop in the All-Star Game, Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson is on the injured list with a broken left forearm, putting a significant damper on his candidacy for AL Rookie of the Year.
The 23-year-old was batting .312/.354/.439 with 10 home runs in 94 games this season, though he had only four hits in 38 at-bats since being hit in the left arm by a pitch on July 8. He last played on July 25. The A’s have recalled infielder Darell Hernaiz from Triple A to take Wilson’s spot on the roster.
Wilson got off to a red-hot start this season and was batting .337 as late as July 4, but was batting only .191 over his last 30 games and had started to lose ground in the AL Rookie of the Year race to teammate Nick Kurtz, who won the AL’s Player of the Week award each of the past two weeks and hit four home runs in a game last Friday. Kurtz, who didn’t make his major-league debut until April 23, is now leading the A’s in bWAR with 3.4 and is batting .308/.376/.676 with 23 home runs in 68 games.
The No. 6 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, Wilson has had little trouble hitting for average since turning pro, batting .299 in 122 major-league games dating to last season and .401 in 79 minor-league games. He’s had trouble staying on the field, however. In his major-league debut last season, Wilson strained a hamstring running the bases after collecting a hit in his first at-bat. He missed more than a month with that injury and has missed games this season with hamstring soreness. He also missed time earlier in the 2024 season with knee soreness while with Triple-A Las Vegas. His pro debut season in 2023 also ended three weeks early with lower-body soreness.
Wilson’s injury further thins the A’s at shortstop. The team is already missing 2021 first-round pick Max Muncy, who landed on the IL with a broken hand last week. Muncy had been playing all over the infield with Wilson getting the bulk of the time at short, but Muncy is a natural shortstop. Utility man Max Schuemann has played short in Wilson’s place recently and figures to share time at the position with Hernaiz. Acquired from the Orioles for left-hander Cole Irvin before the 2023 season, Hernaiz made the A’s roster out of spring training last year but struggled and hit only .192 in 120 at-bats. He was playing well for Las Vegas, batting .305/.383/.424 in 96 games.
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