Weston Wilson is new to the Phillies organization, but he has been around professional baseball since being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 17th round of the 2016 Draft. Over the past two seasons he has played in nearly 200 games with the Nashville Sounds and has good memories of playing there and the city in general.
“My wife and I have actually talked about living there. We both really fell in love with the city,” he said at Lehigh Valley’s media day on Tuesday. As a member of the Sounds, Wilson hit a combined .242/.316/.423 with 27 home runs and 89 RBI. In his six seasons, he has played all over the diamond with 205 games at third base, 163 at first, 121 in the two corner outfield spots, 71 at second base, and 26 at short. On one occasion, he played in center field and on another, he pitched, throwing one scoreless inning in 2021. The 28-year-old has yet to make his major league debut and is hoping that it happens this season with Philadelphia.
As news of the shooting trickled out, Wilson was like most Americans, grieving the loss of life. Having spent time in the city and falling in love with the city and the people, he was taken aback by the news.
“It’s unfortunate. I have been seeing it in so many cities now and you hate that it happens in a place that you love,” lamented Wilson. “I know they are doing a great job coming together as a city and supporting that particular community. I just hated to see it.”
Wilson was born in High Point, NC and attended Wesleyan Christian Academy before heading off to Clemson for college.
For the first time in his career, he finds himself in a different organization, getting used to a whole clubhouse full of new faces and comes to Lehigh Valley not really knowing what to expect. His first experience was walking into a fully renovated and enlarged clubhouse that has been brought up to standards set by major league baseball. The overhaul began the day after the 2022 season began and contractors were running around on Tuesday still putting finishing touches on the place.
As for the new organization, Wilson made a good first impression in spring training by hitting .290/.400/.526 in 20 games with the Phillies. He spent the entire spring in major league camp, so many of the faces around him now are unfamiliar, having been primarily in the minor league camp.
“The organization has been unbelievable. They have been very welcoming. All the guys seem like quality guys and I’m looking forward to sharing a clubhouse with these dudes,” he said. “I’m treating it like a breath of fresh air, just getting a new start. I think getting a new set of eyes on me is a good thing because they know what I can do. It also allows me to just be myself and start fresh. They invested a lot of time in me and the communications have been awesome.”
In August of 2021, Wilson underwent thoracic outlet surgery. He was in the midst of a strong season with Nashville and hit 16 home runs in 70 games. Somewhat surprisingly, he was able to rehab completely to be ready for opening day last season when Nashville hosted the Durham Bulls.
He knows little about his new home city, how the ballpark plays or what the fans are like. He is aware that they draw well and is looking forward to the experience of playing in the Lehigh Valley. When told that the place sometimes gets pretty loud, it was music to his ears. “That’s great. I want it to be loud,” he said. “I’m used to that with Nashville because they have a lot of fans as well.”