How Wilson is morphing into an elite defender

This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos' A's Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Jacob Wilson heard all the talk about his defense.

For all the praise he garnered in 2025 over an outstanding first full year in the big leagues that saw him finish runner-up to teammate Nick Kurtz in American League Rookie of the Year voting and tied for second to Aaron Judge for the AL batting title, there was an equal amount of criticism about his limitations with the glove as a shortstop.

The defensive metrics looked down on Wilson. He ranked as one of the worst shortstops in MLB last season when it came to outs above average (-3), runs prevented (-2) and fielding run value (-3).

Those numbers fueled Wilson heading into the offseason. He felt that he had the hands and arm to be a plus defender. His issue was his range, or lack thereof.

“Analytically, they said I wasn’t a good shortstop,” Wilson said. “But I knew deep down that, if I got to a ball, I have the hands to be able to field it and throw the guy out at first and I had that internal clock. I just think getting to balls was something I needed to work on.”

Improving his range was the focus for Wilson, and he went about it multiple ways. During offseason training at the A’s Spring Training facility in Mesa, Ariz., an emphasis was placed on workouts to make Wilson more explosive in his movements.

On the baseball side of things, Wilson connected with A’s infield coach and 2004 AL Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby for regular conversations about how to improve his defense.

“Being able to call him was great,” Wilson said. “Someone who was a taller, bigger shortstop like I am. We talked about how to read swings, anticipate swings, going through pitchers and seeing where the opposing team hits the ball off certain pitchers that we have going on the mound that day. It was a big learning process.”

The hard work has paid off. Entering Monday’s series opener against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, Wilson’s four OAA and three runs prevented both ranked second among all Major League shortstops, while his fielding run value (3) was tied for second. He is also riding a 62-game errorless streak that stands as the franchise record for a shortstop.

“I want to point out Bobby’s influence and impact on the infielders,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Bobby has done a great job with his program of reads and reaction times. … It’s been pretty fun to watch Jacob’s improvements.”

The Bobby Crosby System has completely changed Wilson from below-average defender to what looks like an early Gold Glove candidate. That system is a formula Crosby has developed for A’s infielders that consists of combining what he knows about the tendencies of A’s pitchers, such as the direction of their hits given up on certain pitches, along with studying all the hitters on the opposing team and where they get their hits on certain pitches.

Before every series, Crosby gathers all the A’s infielders to go over those scouting reports he’s crafted and plan for each game. For Wilson, the work with Crosby extends onto the field before every game.

“A lot of it happens during [batting practice] where our guys are hitting and I’m just trying to read swings,” Wilson said. “It’s just a normal BP fastball, but you can tell by the way some guys are swinging where the ball is going to end up. Being able to read that and slow it down in BP, you get into the game and try to do the same thing.”

Not only is Wilson now a sound defensive shortstop, he’s also generating his share of highlight-reel moments. His favorite so far was a play against the Rangers on April 14 at Sutter Health Park, when he ranged to his left in the second inning on a hard grounder hit by Andrew McCutchen for a sliding stop, spun around and fired a strong, off-balance throw to take away a hit.

“You don’t really think about how to do those plays,” Wilson said. “You kind of just do them. Looking back and watching that on replay, I didn’t even think it looked relatively close to what it did. It’s super cool.

“It’s just something that makes you feel good when I take a hit away and [my pitcher] is all pumped up and it maybe saves them a couple of pitches or an extra inning. As an infielder, that’s what you’re shooting for.”