After 2,836 minor league plate appearances spread out over 706 minor league games, what’s one more day to Weston Wilson?
After chasing his dream from Rookie League Helena through Class A Carolina and Wisconsin to Double-A Biloxi to Triple-A Nashville, interrupted by a year during which he didn’t play at all, patience is one thing the 28-year-old outfielder has plenty of.
He didn’t make his Major League debut after being called up from Lehigh Valley on Sunday, arriving at Citizens Bank in the first inning of the series finale against the Royals. He didn’t get his opportunity when Monday’s game against the Nationals was postponed by a forecast for heavy rains later in the evening.
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If not in Tuesday’s single-admission doubleheader, the moment almost certainly will happen Wednesday or Thursday when lefthanders MacKenzie Gore and Patrick Corbin will start for Washington. And when it does, it will all have been worth it.
This is the day Wilson has been pointing toward ever since the Brewers made him their 17th round draft choice in 2016. He became a minor league free agent at the end of last season and signed with the Phillies in January.
It will be why he never considered quitting, even when he had to wonder if his time would ever come.
“It’s been a blessing,” he said Monday afternoon. “I wouldn’t change these seven, eight years I’ve been in pro ball for anything. I was thinking about it on my drive (from Allentown to Philadelphia on Sunday). Taking it all in. but at the same time, I think I’m ready. It took me all that time to be at the point where I’m at peace with everything. I’ve learned so much along those seven or eight years. I’m so blessed to be here.
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“I had a couple hiccups along the way where I thought I might get an opportunity back with Milwaukee. Things didn’t fall my way. But I couldn’t be happier than to be here now in the big leagues with the Phillies.”
“That (retiring) never crossed my mind. I’ve had a wife who supported me the entire time. She’s been with me from the start. Her parents have helped. My parents have helped. I’ve just had a great support system that said, ‘Give it everything you’ve got. You’ll know when the time has come.’ So I never thought about quitting, even though it's been a tough journey for sure.”
Tough when he batted .375 with a 1.038 OPS in the Arizona Fall League in 2018 and didn’t even get an invitation to big league camp the following year.
Tough when he spent the entire 2019 season at Biloxi and batted just .231 with a .739 OPS.
Tough when he had to sit out the entire 2020 season due to Covid shutting down the minor leagues, delivering food for Postmates and giving hitting lessons to help make ends meet.
“Honestly, it was an interesting year because I worked my butt off to kind of do some things with my swing,” he said. “Made some adjustments. Worked really hard on that but also had a chance to travel and do some things I maybe wouldn’t get to during the baseball season. It just gave me a different perspective on things and a chance to really appreciate the game. It was a time of rest but also getting after it at the same time.”
Tough when all that hard work led to hitting .267 with 16 homers and a .902 OPS in 70 games for Triple-A Nashville. . .only to have his season ended by a blood clot in his shoulder.
Tough when he then hit just .228 with a .655 OPS for the Sounds in 2022
“Coming back last year, I put a lot of pressure on myself to repeat that. And just wasn’t myself,” he said.
He had offers from other organizations, but they just didn’t feel right. Then, in December, boyhood friend and workout partner righthander Jeremy Walker signed a minor league deal with the Phillies. They had been talking about how cool it would be to play together.
Not just cool but productive, as it turned out. Wilson was batting .260 with 25 homers, 69 RBI and an .884 OPS in 100 games when he was informed late Sunday morning that his dream had finally come true. His wife, Madison, helped him pack his stuff and they made the drive down the Northeast Extension.
“The Phillies welcomed me in spring training, gave me my first opportunity in big league camp. Never had a big league camp with Milwaukee,” he said. “And the first thing they said when I got there was, ‘Who cares if you go 0-for-4? We know you’re good. You know you’re good. Just play the game.’ That gave me peace of mind and confidence to be myself and got back to the stuff I was doing in 2021 with my swing and I just ran with it.”
Madison is in Philadelphia, of course. His brother and sister arrived Monday. His sister-in-law and their newborn baby. Aunts and uncles. In all, about 15 people, most coming in from North Carolina.
They’ve all waited a long time to see him play in a big league game. Waiting one more day or two isn’t going to spoil that.