2010 in Review: Jack Wilson

Offense: In his 211 2010 plate appearances, Jack Wilson was good for a .262 wOBA, and a .598 OPS – slightly worse than Jose Lopez on both counts. Granted, he has never been a player known for his offense, but the numbers he put up this season were far too awful for any contending team to be throwing in their lineup on a regular basis, even for a position like shortstop, where offense comes at a premium. His ISO (.067), walk rate (3.3%), and strikeout rate (18.1%) were all worse than his career norms as well. And perhaps the most depressing part, is that there’s no way to blame any of these atrocious numbers on bad luck – his BABIP was .298, right where it’s supposed to be. His HR/FB rate did come in at a whopping 0.0%, but after watching him this season and looking at his .067 ISO, it really isn’t surprising that he didn’t hit any home runs.

However, he’s still only 32 years old, and I’m not quite ready to believe that he’s in full on decline mode just yet. There’s no doubt that injuries have been a factor, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his bat get back to at least a respectable level next season – a .300 wOBA isn’t too much to ask, is it?

Defense: Surprisingly, Jack actually posted a negative UZR in 2010. Don’t read into that, though, as the 61 games he played in are an extremely small sample size, and we know how volatile UZR  can be. As far as I can tell, he’s still an excellent defensive shortstop.

Outlook: He’s under contract through 2011, so when he’s healthy, he’s probably going to continue seeing the majority of the starts at shortstop. Beyond next season, however, he’s extremely unlikely to have any real future with this team – sure, if he has a bounce-back year, puts up 1-2 WAR, and for the most part stays healthy, the team might explore bringing him back on another short-term deal. All of those things happening seems like a long shot though, so if you really like Jack Wilson, watch as many games as you can in 2011.