A’s Jacob Wilson Voted American League All-Star Starting Shortstop

Making history for the Athletics

In no surprise to any fans of the Athletics, shortstop Jacob Wilson has received an honor that is rare in the sport for a rookie in his first full big league season, earning the starting shortstop job for the American League in the upcoming All-Star Game:

It seemed like it was always going to happen during a year when there aren’t any superstar performances from shortstops in the American League, outside of Wilson of course. The right-handed swinging rookie has been on fire from Opening Day onward, slashing an insane .339/.380/.473 with nine homers and five stolen bases in 81 games played. He’s second in baseball in both hits (108) and batting average, and has 34 multi-hit games, which ties him with Aaron Judge. He’s also been strong with the glove at one of the hardest positions in the game, and he’ll likely garner some MVP votes at the end of the year.

This selection caps a meteoric rise for the son of former big league shortstop Jack Wilson. Picked sixth overall just a couple of years ago during the 2023 MLB Draft, Wilson shot up the minor league ladder like a rocket, playing in only 79 games across four levels before getting his first call-up last season. The 22-year-old shortstop will be the first-ever fan-elected rookie shortstop to start the All-Star Game, beating out Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. for this year’s honor. The final vote tally has yet to be revealed but Wilson had a solid lead over his competition last time the votes were released.

There was concern among A’s fans that after placing second in AL MVP voting last season behind Judge and playing on a playoff team last year, that Witt Jr. had much higher name recognition than Wilson did entering the season, which we’ve seen hurt player’s chances in the past. Wilson’s just been a far and away better player than Witt Jr. has this season and the baseball world agrees. Now Wilson is the one who is on track to finish runner-up to Judge, which A’s fans would gladly take.

The Athletics’ starting shortstop is not only having a fantastic season that will see him start the 2025 All-Star Game, he’s also going to be crossing off a lot of achievements for his team and himself:

• First A’s rookie shortstop to start an All-Star Game ever
• Second rookie shortstop to start an All-Star Game (Ron Hansen in 1960)
• First A’s shortstop to start an All-Star Game since 1974 (Bert Campaneris)
• Youngest A’s All-Star starter since 1971 (Vida Blue)
• First A’s position player to start the All-Star Game since 2014 (Josh Donaldson)
• First fan-elected rookie to star an All-Star Game
• Third fan-elected starter for the A’s since 1993 (Jason Giambi in ‘01, and Donaldson)

Plus the fact that this is obviously his first All-Star selection at all. Add it all together and you have a first-half rookie season for the ages. At this point he’s on his way to an easy AL Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season if he can produce at even half the clip he did in the first half, but there’s no indication he’s slowing down. He leads all rookies in hits, average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, and RBI’s. He also has the least amount of strikeouts with just 26 punchouts, and his 25 extra-base hits and tied for the second-most among rookies. Wilson is going to be a tough out for the pitchers at the All-Star Game.

Wilson missed today and yesterday’s contests due to a hamstring strain but tomorrow’s off-day should hopefully see him back in the starting lineup to kick off the weekend series in Sacramento against the Giants. With the team out of playoff contention it’d be nice if the team were extra careful with Wilson over the final two weeks of the first half so that he won’t reaggravate his injury and miss the All-Star Game. He’s been a workhorse for the squad though so that’s not a major concern as of yet, just something to keep an eye on.

Now all that’s left to do is wait for the big day when the Athletics’ prized rookie shortstop takes the field in front of the baseball world at the Midsummer Classic. A’s fans saw this coming, but maybe not this fast. Congratulations, Jacob! The first of many All-Star selections!