Elephant Rumblings: Wilson leads AL ROY race

MLB news roundup

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

A’s rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson left yesterday’s game in the fifth inning, shortly after being hit on his lower forearm near the wrist by a pitch from Angels starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks. The A’s reported the cause as a forearm contusion. To pile on more bad news, the A’s lost their seventh straight game last night, completing a nosedive back to the bottom of the AL West.

But let’s focus on the positive, shall we? I took a contusion to my hip on Sunday in a minor bike crash, but I’m fairly certain I will be right back in the saddle this weekend. Hopefully Wilson is just bruised up a bit and will be back to continue his bid for AL Rookie of the Year, which is off to a very promising start.

Jason Foster at MLB.com noted yesterday that Wilson holds a commanding lead in the AL ROY race so far this season based on a poll of 34 experts. Wilson received 31 first place votes from the panel. As of Monday, Wilson led all qualified AL rookies in OPS, hits, runs, doubles, and RBIs, while being tied for the lead in home runs.

Wilson isn’t just great for a rookie, he’s the third best hitter in all of baseball with a .341 batting average and on the fringe of the top 20 run creators with a wRC+ of 148. He’s solidly among the 20 best MLB players right now with 2.0 fWAR.

This isn’t exactly news to those of us who follow Wilson closely—it would be a shock if Wilson wasn’t a heavy favorite for ROY. But it’s nice to see him get the recognition he deserves.

Now we could all use some good news, as the A’s are stuck in quite a doldrum as a team at the moment. My wish: a quick return for Wilson, and a skid-busting win for the A’s in Sacramento today behind JP Sears. Make it so, baseball gods!

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics Drop 7th Straight, Fall to Angels 7-5
• A’s roster moves: Ginn placed back on IL, Maldonado recalled
• ROY favorite Wilson exits game after hit by pitch
• 1st ROY poll of 2025 shows runaway favorite in AL, lots of competition in NL
• Promoted to Triple-A, could No. 4 prospect Morales solve A’s rotation puzzle?
• Severino searching for comforts of home
• The A’s Home vs. Road Splits Aren’t What You’d Expect

MLB News & Interest:

• MLB Power Rankings: Cardinals, Rangers rising; What you might have missed this season ($)
• Five young MLB starting pitchers with good stuff and bad results … so far ($)
• The Giants silently dedicated their public address booth to Renel Brooks-Moon
• 7 players who could win their first MVP this season
• Mendoza on Soto: ‘He’s human, he’s going to be fine’
• White Sox Notes: Robert, Wilson, Benintendi
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Roster moves.

Looks like Gage might be ready for another jump.