Elephant Rumblings: Wilson scratched from lineup, maintains All-Star lead

MLB news roundup

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

A’s rookie sensation Jacob Wilson was a late scratch from yesterday’s lineup due to some soreness. Manager Mark Kotsay indicated that the young shortstop is questionable for today, as well, so we’ll keep an eye out for a status update on J Willy. Tomorrow is an off day for the A’s, so if some soreness persists, Wilson will get a bit more time to recoup without missing another day of action.

Obviously, we all want to see Jacob back in action as soon as possible to solidify his worthiness to start the 2025 All-Star Game. Wilson topped bona fide superstar and last year’s MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. by about half a million votes in Phase 1 of the voting, and has apparently held his lead in Phase 2, which pits the two top vote getters head-to-head to determine who will start this year’s Midsummer Classic.

Wilson seems to have captured fans’ imaginations with his plucky, frenetic style of play and elite bat-to-ball skills. He’s been chasing Aaron Judge for the batting title all season. This has enabled Jacob to garner more votes than Witt, even though the latter is significantly ahead in fWAR at 3.9 to Wilson’s 2.8.

It’s also worth noting that Wilson has been slumping lately and his fWAR has dropped by about half a win above replacement since mid June. Jacob has slashed .192/.276/.269 since June 16 with an abysmal wRC+ of 54. During the same period, his K rate has been more than double his 7.6% mark for the season thus far.

Did any of this stop me from voting for our future ROY winner? Absolutely not.

Wilson looked good in Monday’s win over the Rays, going 2-for-5 with a double. Hopefully his batting average will start climbing again. Phase 2 of voting ends today at 9am Pacific, so get your votes in if you haven’t already!

A’s Coverage

• A’s Win In Extras, Beat Rays 4-3
• A Fundamental Truth: The Difference Between Understanding And Discipline
• Three Things To Watch For The Athletics In July
• Wilson (right hamstring soreness) scratched, move made ‘out of caution’
• The 2 Athletics prospects named to Futures Game
• Time For A’s to Switch Draft Strategies?
• Latest Athletics injuries and transactions

MLB News & Interest:

• Buster Posey exercises Bob Melvin’s 2026 option amid Giants’ roughest stretch of season
• MLB Power Rankings: Mets, Guardians end June with gloom; Current trends for each team ($)
• Less than 24 hours left! Here’s who’s leading Phase 2 of All-Star voting
• MLB Draft 2025 top 100 prospects: Ethan Holliday, Liam Doyle and Kade Anderson lead the way ($)
• Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury
• Who was best? Dave Parker was, a convincing Jim Rice says about SI’s memorable cover photo ($)
• Jorge Mateo To Miss 8 To 12 Weeks With Hamstring Strain
• Brewers Select Anthony Seigler, Designate Daz Cameron For Assignment
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Roster moves.

Andujar update.

Rock the Vote!