Oakland Athletics: Stockton Ports’ prospect Will Gilbert is on the rise

The 2019 minor league season is over for the Stockton Ports, however, I had the chance to talk with Oakland Athletics pitching prospect Will Gilbert to get a review of this past season.

In 2017, Will Gilbert tore his patella tendon after trying to make a play on the ball in his first season with a minor league organization. It was a tough start to a promising career for a player that was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the eighth round of the 2016 draft.

For those unfamiliar with Gilbert and his college accolades, he attended North Carolina State University all the way across the country. Gilbert was a four-year relief pitcher for the Wolfpack and seemed to get progressively better as he obtained more experience.

Gilbert only allowed three home runs in his entire career at NC State and finished with 11 total saves. Life as a relief pitcher isn’t always easy as oftentimes they are put in stressful situations.

I got a chance to sit down with Will and talk about his recent success and struggles as well as a chance to talk about the community award he won at the end of the season.

Question: What has been the most challenging adjustment from college to professional baseball?

Will: “The biggest difference is playing games every day, college games are played once or twice a week. In professional baseball there are 140 games in about 150 days, there’s a lot less time to recover, as well as get yourself ready for the game that day.”

Question: What has been your favorite moment in the minors?

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Will: “The best time of the year is Opening Day. Spring training becomes a real grind in March, April rolls around and it doesn’t matter how old you are, it’s always easy to get butterflies in Game 1. Playing the game you fell in love with as a kid every year never gets old.”

Question: What is the best part about competing?

Will: “As a relief pitcher, you come into situations with the game on the line, and oftentimes they’re high-leverage situations. That is a part of why I love playing baseball. Nothing beats the adrenaline rush and the understanding that you have to be able to bring it in those situations.”

Question: What does it mean to you to win the 2019 Dallas Braden Community Service Award?

Will: “I have been in Stockton for 2+ years and the fans have supported the team so tremendously well. They really have helped make the grind worth it. It’s also always fun to meet the fans and meet with kids and be able to contribute to putting smiles on their faces, it really makes your day.”

Question: How does being an athlete inspire you to get involved with the community as you have?

Will: “There’s nothing like the feeling of giving back to a community that has been so great to me. I love being able to do things in the community and being a professional athlete just gives me a higher platform to do the right thing.”

Question: With having a significant knee injury, tell me how you went about overcoming this adversity?

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Will: “Well, I tore my patella tendon when I was just getting comfortable. I couldn’t walk for 10 weeks, it’s definitely important having a good support system, being diligent with rehabilitation, trusting the process and it’s also a lot of time wondering if it’s worth it. However, it really is important to just give yourself a chance to chase your dream.”

Gilbert is a prospect that is absolutely on the rise. His efforts in the community prove that he cares and that is hard to come by with athletes that have gone through big injuries such as the one he suffered two years ago.

Just three years ago, Gilbert turned in one of the greatest performances I have witnessed by an NC State baseball player.

In his senior season in a regional game against Coastal Carolina, Gilbert came on as a relief pitcher and not only struck out nine batters but did so against a top-ranked team in a game where he threw a career high in pitches.

This past season with the Stockton Ports, Gilbert has seen a 5-1 record in pitching relief. Gilbert also had a career-high in strikeouts this season with 66. An example of Gilbert’s spectacular pitching is shown above.

Will Gilbert is a prospect on the rise and don’t be surprised to see him in the majors with the Oakland Athletics at some point in the future.