Wilson (3 more hits) applies pressure in AL batting race

WEST SACRAMENTO -- When Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson landed on the 10-day injured list on July 26, it appeared as if his bid for the American League batting title had come to an end.

At the time, Wilson’s batting average had plummeted to .312 following a 4-for-38 (.105) slump in the nine games following a left hand contusion, which later turned out to be a left forearm fracture, sustained after getting hit by a pitch on July 8. Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, meanwhile, was batting .342.

Since returning from the IL on Aug. 22, Wilson has hit his way back into contention. The All-Star shortstop continued closing the gap on Judge in Tuesday night’s 6-0 loss to the Red Sox at Sutter Health Park. Going 3-for-4 with a double, Wilson pushed his overall batting average to .319, which ranks second-highest in the Majors -- slightly behind Judge’s .321 mark with 16 games remaining.

Should Wilson come out on top in this tight race, he would become the first A’s player to lead the AL in batting average since Ferris Fain, who won back-to-back titles in 1951 and ’52. The other Athletics to lead the AL in batting are Nap Lajoie (1901), Al Simmons (1930-31) and Jimmie Foxx (1933). Only Simmons (1931) and Lajoie led the entire Majors in batting.

“It’s definitely a goal for the end of the season,” Wilson said of winning the batting title. “Just being able to go out there and compete with the best in the game, the entire season earlier in the year, I was trying to compete with [Judge] for hits. Now, just at the end of the year, being up there with him for batting average is definitely a blessing for me. I’m excited to compete and keep going.”

Tuesday marked Wilson’s 15th game with three or more hits this season. In his 16 games back from injury, he is 23-for-63 (.365) with six multihit games over that span. Despite leading all Major League rookies in hits (139) and batting average while also ranking second among AL rookies in RBIs (56), Wilson will likely finish no higher than runner-up in AL Rookie of the Year voting to fellow teammate Nick Kurtz, who is putting together a remarkable debut season.

Still, winning a batting title is no small feat, and Wilson’s teammates and coaches are all pulling for him.

“He’s obviously been swinging the bat really well since he’s come back,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “It’s really exciting for this young man. Tonight’s game with three hits, he continues to just hit the baseball on the barrel. It’s impressive to see his ability to use the whole field as well as he does. It’s definitely going to be fun, because it doesn’t seem as if he’s slowing down right now.”

Wilson’s all-fields approach was evident against Boston. His first two hits were singles smacked to left and center in the fourth and sixth. In the eighth, Wilson smacked an opposite-field double to right off reliever Steven Matz.

For Wilson, getting back to his hot-hitting ways is something he said is a product of just feeling healthy again. He chose to play through the hand issue, which zapped a lot of the strength in his left wrist and led to a lessened ability to square up balls.

“I feel a lot better,” Wilson said. “Once the wrist healed, just being able to get that pain out of the way and come back, your body gets a little reset with the time off, as well. But just getting the pain out of that wrist area was big. A main part of hitting is that wrist movement. To get the pain out of there and just come back after a little rest has been great.”

As they have for most of the year, Wilson and Judge appear destined to battle it out for the batting title until the very end.

“Whatever happens, happens,” Wilson said. “I’m just going to go out there, enjoy playing baseball and enjoy this last month.”