LOS ANGELES _ With the 15th pick of the 2019 amateur player draft, the Los Angeles Angels selected North Carolina State shortstop Will Wilson on Monday. Wilson, 21, was ranked 22nd on Baseball America's list of prospects. He began the season lower on that chart but his stock steadily rose.
A 6-foot, 184-pound junior from Kings Mountain, N.C., Wilson led N.C. State in batting average (.335), doubles (20), home runs (16) and slugging percentage (.661). He also drew 33 walks and struck out 46 times in 258 plate appearances. He was one of five finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the best college shortstop.
Under the leadership of general manager Billy Eppler and amateur scouting director Matt Swanson, who took that role in 2017, the Angels have tended toward athletic players considered higher-risk picks with higher upside. First rounders Jo Adell, the 10th selection of the 2017 draft, and Jordyn Adams, the 17th pick of the 2018 draft, fit that mold.
The Angels stayed with that philosophy by picking Wilson. Undrafted out of high school, Wilson shot up the prospect boards. He ranked in the top 10 in the Atlantic Coast Conference in slugging percentage the last two seasons. He performed well enough in 2018 _ he hit .307 with a .588 slugging percentage and 53 RBIs _ to be a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, awarded to the best college player.
But Wilson's lack of speed on the infield has been a point of contention for scouts, according to reports from Baseball America. Many expect him to move to second base, where he played for USA Baseball's collegiate national team last year.
Wilson is the second collegiate position player drafted in the first round by the Angels under Eppler. In Eppler's first summer as a top baseball operations executive, the Angels drafted catcher-turned-first baseman Matt Thaiss out of the University of Virginia. Thaiss, who has a .782 on-base-plus-slugging percentage at triple-A Salt Lake, is the Angels' eighth-ranked prospect, according to Baseball America.
