Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
SCOTTSDALE — There have been flashes of potential, and there have been flashes of a player who has not played a single game above Rookie ball.
Will Wilson, in other words, has looked like a solid prospect.
Another Infielder Of the Future, Wilson was essentially purchased by the Giants in December 2019, when they absorbed Zack Cozart’s contract in exchange for the 15th-overall pick in 2019.
Wilson did not last long with the Angels, who freed up some money during an offseason in which they signed Anthony Rendon. Wilson is in the lineup for a reach of a revenge game when the Giants match up with the Angels at Temple Diablo Stadium on Thursday, Wilson playing third.
He said he’s probably most comfortable at short, where he played at NC State, but can handle second, too, where he nicely fielded a tough hop during Tuesday’s game. He also, from third, threw very wildly of first last week.
Will Wilson ? #SFGSpring pic.twitter.com/8BeU91CfpZ
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) March 9, 2021
All things equal, the Giants would love him to stay at shortstop, which led to the club challenging him to work on his body in the offseason. Gabe Kapler said he came into camp in “fantastic shape.”
“We just want agility, we want flexibility, we want explosiveness. We want him to be able to stay at shortstop,” the manager said Wednesday. “We just want the quickest, fastest version of Will Wilson.”
They like what they’ve seen. The 22-year-old has shown glimpses of a pull-heavy bat that got around on a Drew Pomeranz fastball last week and lined it over third base for a single, and later hammered a shot to left that would have been extra bases if not for a spectacular Jurickson Profar play. He also has struck out seven times in 13 Cactus League at-bats.
It has to be strange for a player who has only played 46 games professionally, all with a Rookie ball affiliate, and then found himself in Sacramento, facing major league-quality pitchers. It has to be strange for a player who, apart from instructional league, went a full year between game at-bats. Strange for a player who’s been tweaking his swing since coming over to the Giants but absent the traditional methods of trial and error. Strange to have to adjust that swing against pitchers in Sacramento.
“It’s always harder to make that adjustment when you’re facing the top-tier guys,” said Wilson, whose changed swing is trying to get more balls in the air. “So I think that was really good to get thrown into that situation. I think my swing plays a little bit better this year, I just got to keep settling in and being confident at the plate.”
What should help the comfort level is the (Wolf)pack around him. He played with 2020 first-round pick Patrick Bailey in college, as well as lefty Nick Swiney, who wasn’t invited to major league camp. In Arizona, he’s living with pitching prospect Matt Frisbee, another North Carolina native, whom he did not know growing up, but the two have a picture of Wilson at-bat in college, with Frisbee, who played at UNC Greensboro, in the opposing dugout.
Especially with Wilson and Bailey, their projected timelines match up pretty well. He acknowledged there’s been talk of their being teammates again.
“It’s just tough with so much up in the air with the minor league season, no one really knows what’s going to go on there,” said Wilson, whom the Giants had contemplated with the selection that became Hunter Bishop. “But it’d be great to play with those guys again. Hopefully we all get the chance to do it at any level, and hopefully the big-league level, too.”
The fact the Giants were willing to spend about $13 million to pry Wilson from the Angels suggests they can see him rising that far, as well as the fact he was at the alternate site. He’s in camp with a changed swing and a better body and “has impressed every time we’ve seen him,” Kapler said.