CHICAGO – The Athletics are one step closer to getting their spark plug back.
While the A’s will head to Houston following Thursday’s series finale against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Jacob Wilson – who joined the team to continue his rehab for a left shoulder subluxation on this road trip – will fly to Nevada, where he is scheduled to begin a Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday.
“Everything that we wanted to work on the past couple of weeks has been getting to the point where we can now go and start playing on it, which is super exciting for me,” Wilson said. “I think just getting out there and playing baseball again, I feel really comfortable with the shoulder being in a good spot.”
Wilson has steadily checked off all the boxes in his recovery, taking batting practice and running the bases under the supervision of the A’s training staff this week in Chicago. If all goes well, Wilson could be activated at some point next week to play at Las Vegas Ballpark, the same field on which he’ll be rehabbing and also where the A’s are set to play a special six-game homestand near their future home city from June 8-14 against the Brewers and Rockies.
“Hopefully, towards the second half of that [Las Vegas homestand] depending on how the rehab assignment ends up going,” Wilson said of a possible return. “That’s definitely the goal. Go down and get as many at-bats as I need to get comfortable again, then come join the squad here.”
The A’s have certainly felt the loss of their All-Star shortstop, who was batting .292 with a .709 OPS while also analytically performing as one of the top defensive players at his position at the time of his 10-day IL placement on May 11. Sans Wilson, the A’s – who were in first place in the AL West when he went down – entered Thursday in second place and 9-12 since May 12, averaging just four runs per game in that span.
Their defense has also struggled in that stretch, entering Thursday having committed 16 errors in the 21 games since Wilson went on the IL, after making just eight errors over the first 40 games of the season.
“It’s never easy to fill a position in the lineup that contributes to that level,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Darell [Hernaiz] and Alika [Williams] have done a nice job. Alika has gotten a couple of big hits for us in his limited opportunities and made some great plays. … But it’s always hard to replace that type of production from an All-Star.”
Following a rough May that saw the A’s go 11-17, the team responded by winning its first two games in June. It’s a promising start as the A’s aim to climb back to the top of the division, and that effort would certainly be boosted with a healthy Wilson.
“I’m excited to get back to this team,” Wilson said. “They’re starting to heat up again, so it’ll be nice to hopefully come back and join that.”