Inside A's shortstop Jacob Wilson's path to MLB stardom - ESPN

Warning: What you're about to read is Jacob Wilson's opinion. He is a professional baseball player — a very good one — and not a medical expert, but there are some things he is convinced are true, and this is one of them.

The 23-year-old Wilson, the Athletics' wunderkind shortstop, is wise enough to understand that the sort of success he has found on the baseball field — a .347 batting average and a near-certain invitation to the All-Star Game coming — comes from a multitude of areas. He is the son of a longtime big leaguer, so certainly genetics helped, and he works relentlessly at his craft, which goes a long way. But the special sauce that built the American League Rookie of the Year favorite, he believes, included a secret ingredient.

Fortnite.

«Kids are going to love this one. Parents are going to hate me,» Wilson said. «I am a big believer in video games. It's fast decision-making strategy. I think that gets me ready for the game, because when you're in the box, you have to process a lot. So there's some days where I'll wake up and I'll play video games and then I'll go to the field, and I'll have a good day. Some days I won't play and don't see the ball well. I think it really helps me train kind of the decision-making that I have to make six, seven hours later at the baseball field.»

Yes, one of the best hitters in the major leagues, a contact maven who strikes out with the infrequency of Tony Gwynn, swears that he's as good as he is at a kid's game because of his aptitude at another kid's game. After Wilson wakes up, he deploys to his living room and parks in a chair. On the table in front of him sit a PC and a controller. He logs in to Fortnite — the 8-year-old game still played by millions every day — hops on