William Bradley Wilson (born July 21, 1998) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

organization. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the NC State Wolfpack. He was selected with the 15th overall pick of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft by the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Amateur career

Alongside baseball, Wilson also played football and basketball in middle school. Wilson attended Kings Mountain High School in Kings Mountain,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. While playing high school football, he was a

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turned

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

until he quit in order to concentrate on baseball. As a senior, he hit .535/.673/1.253 with 14 home runs in 26 games. Undrafted out of high school in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at North Carolina State University where he played

for the NC State Wolfpack. In 2017, as a freshman at NC State playing primarily second base, Wilson started all 61 games and batted .300/.377/.504 with 21 doubles (tied for the league lead; the second-highest total of any freshman in the nation), eight home runs, and 48 RBIs. He was named to the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

All-Freshman Team along with being named a Freshman All-American by D1Baseball and ''

Collegiate Baseball Magazine ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 ...

''. As a sophomore in 2018, playing shortstop he hit .307/.376/.588 with three triples, 15 home runs, and 53 RBIs in 59 games. During the season, he was named ACC Player of the Week three times, which set an NC State record. He was also named to the All ACC-First Team. After the season, he played for the

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseba ...

Collegiate National Team. Prior to the 2019 season, Wilson was named a preseason All-American by multiple media outlets including Baseball America and ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 ...

''. He was named the ACC Defender of the Year along with being named to the All ACC-First Team for the second consecutive year. He played shortstop and finished the season slashing .339/.425/.665 with 20 doubles, 16 home runs, and 57 RBIs in 55 games.

Professional career

Wilson was considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He was selected by the

with the 15th overall selection. He signed with the Angels on June 10 for a signing bonus of $3.4 million. After signing, he made his professional debut with the

Orem Owlz The Orem Owlz were a Minor League Baseball team located in Orem, Utah, United States, from 2001 to 2020. The team competed in the Pioneer League as a Rookie League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The Owlz played their home games at Home o ...

of the Rookie Advanced Pioneer League. Over 46 games, he slashed .275/.328/.439 in 189 at bats with 23 runs, five home runs, and 18 RBIs. On December 10, 2019, Wilson and

Zack Cozart Zachary Warren Cozart (born August 12, 1985) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Angels. The Reds selected Cozart in the second round of the 20 ...

were traded to the

in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

or cash considerations. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. To begin 2021, he was assigned to the

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays thei ...

of the

High-A West The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

. After slashing .251/.339/.497 in 195 at bats with 37 runs, ten home runs, and 26 RBIs over 49 games, he was promoted to the

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. The ...

of the

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in early July. Over 51 games with Richmond, Wilson batted .189/.281/.306 in 196 at bats with five home runs and 22 RBIs. He was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

for the

Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco Gia ...

after the season. He returned to Richmond to begin the 2022 season. In mid-May, he was promoted to the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, but he was reassigned to Richmond in late August. He missed time during the season due to injury, and rehabbed with the Rookie-level

Arizona Complex League Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in Scot ...

. Over a combined 71 games played for the season in three leagues, he hit .250/.346/.452 in 252 at bats with 43 runs, 13 home runs, and 38 RBIs. He played 44 games at shortstop, 19 at second base, and 4 at third base.

Personal life

Wilson's mother, Robin, played

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

at Winthrop.The News and Observer
Wilson earned his finance degree from NC State in three years.

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Will 1998 births Living people People from Kings Mountain, North Carolina Baseball players from North Carolina Baseball shortstops United States national baseball team players NC State Wolfpack baseball players All-American college baseball players Orem Owlz players Eugene Emeralds players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sacramento River Cats players