OF Tyler Wilson, 8th round (241st) – New York Yankees — Signed $50,000
Hometown: Chandler, Az.
Born: Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Height/Weight: 6’ 1” 196 lbs.
Bats/Throws: R-R
Slot Money: $215,100
Scouts: Troy Afenir and Steve Kmetko.
School: Grand Canyon University.
Coach: Gregg Wallis.
Previous Teams: Hamilton High School, T-Rex Easton.
Previous Coaches: Mike Woods, Rex Gonzalez and Andy Stankwiez.
Rankings: 2019 spring at Hamilton HS, Chandler, Az. ...Ranked as the state’s top catcher by Perfect Game.
Good genes: “Mom Lydia Wilson was not in athletics, dad Steve Wilson (Victoria, BC) pitched in the majors (205 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers ... 13-18, six saves, 4.40 ERA on 345 1/3 innings, 252 strikeouts ... Member of Canada’s first Olympic team, 1984 in Los Angeles ... Pitched from 1982-85 for University of Portland Pilots) and C Brother Liam (Wilson) has committed to Harvard.”
Most influential people in my baseball life: “My teammates in college throughout my four years and my dad Steve.”
Most influential person in my baseball career, besides my father: “Coach Tony Valdez who was my 14u feeder team because he taught us not only how to respect the game but to play it the right way. He taught us about life and how to be men through the game of baseball.”
Best day on the ball field: “Helping Grand Canyon win their its first conference championship my freshman year.” (He delivered game-winning single in championship game of the WAC Tournament, a ninth-inning single to score Elijah Buries.)
What teams have shown the most interest: “I have several teams who have reached out but the teams that have shown the most interest are the Yankees, Brewers, Cubs, and the Tigers.”
Pre-draft workouts: “With the Tigers, Brewers and the Cubs.”
When scouts talk to you whom do they say your game reminds them: “A player that I like to compare myself with and certain guys have said the most is Bryan Reynolds from the Pittsburgh Pirates.”
Early years: Born in Taiwan, moved to the United States for fourth grade without having played baseball or speaking English.
2024 spring with Grand Canyon _ Hit .378 with 18 doubles, two triples, 17 homers and 65 RBIs ... Had a 1.132 OPS in 58 games ... Doubled and singled in win over USC ... Had two hits and drove in a run against BYU ... A .405 hitter in conference play to lead the WAC ... Among conference’s top 10 in average, slugging, on-base, hits, runs scored, RBIs, doubles and home runs ... Hit .300 or better for his fourth consecutive college season ... Doubled, homered and drove in seven runs in three-game Nebraska series ... Had four hits and four RBIs thanks to a homer in a two-game set against UTSA ... Two hits, including a double and two RBIs against Oregon in two games ... Had six hits, including two doubles and two homers with six runs knocked in against Stephen F. Austin ... Had five hits with an RBI in series against Tarleton State ... Drove in a run against Arizona ... Four hits with a double, a homer and four RBIs in three-game series against UT Rio Grande Valley ... Two hits in series facing Sacramento State ... Drove in a run in a loss to Arizona State ... Three hits with a homer and three RBIs against Saint Mary’s ... He had three hits including a homer and three RBIs in win against Arizona State ... Six hits with a double, a triple in an RBI facing UT Arlington ... Two hits with a double in a win against Arizona ... Three hits with a double facing Washington State ... Six hits with a homer and four RBIs in three-game set against Utah Tech ... Five hits, with two doubles in three-game set against Seattle ... Doubled, tripled and homered knocking in two in a win against Arizona ... Four hits including a double, homer and six RBIs against California Baptist ... Four RBIs with a homer in win against Washington ... Had six hits with a double, homer and four RBIs in series against Abilene Christian ... Singled homered and drove in two loss to BYU ... Had five hits with a double, homer and four RBIs in two-game series against Utah Valley ... Singled facing Tarleton State ... Homered, singled, plated four against UT-Rio Grande ... Singled and homered in victory against Arizona ... Doubled, singled and knocked in a run against Dallas Baptist ... Doubled in loss to West Virginia.
2023 summer with State College Spikes, Draft League _ Batted .209 with six doubles and 12 RBIs ... Had .560 OPS in 23 games.
2023 spring as a junior at Grand Canyon _ Hit .303 with eight doubles, a triple, five homers and 32 RBIs ... Had an .834 OPS in 50 games ... Hit over .300 for his third season in a row, ranking fourth on the team ... Only fifth GCU player to record three seasons hitting .300 at D-I level, joining Tom Lerouge (2015-17), Ben Menke (1996-98), Garrison Schwartz (2015-17) and Jacob Wilson (2021-23) ... Walked a career-high 29 times, leading to a career-best on-base percentage of .396 ... Made 36 starts as DH and 12 in left field Had one stretch in the with multiple hitless games consecutively ... Hit two home runs against Seattle, his first multi-homer game and GCU’s only individual multi-homer game of year, racking up six RBIs to match his career high ... Had four (season-high) of GCU’s 11 hits in a WAC Tournament loss to UT Arlington.
2022 spring as a sophomore at Grand Canyon _ Hit .321 with 11 doubles, a triple, six homers and 32 RBIs ... Had .869 OPS in 53 games ... Hit .398 in conference play, the sixth-best mark in the WAC and the second-best mark with GCU ... One of eight Lopes to hit .300 or better with at least 20 starts ... Made starts at behind the plate (24), first (18), left field (2) and DH (6) being slotted at every position in the order from third to eighth ... An offensive force in GCU’s 19-3 rout of Arizona with a grand slam -- his first career home run -- with six RBIs, a high for any GCU batter in 2022 ... Was 5-for-5 day at Dixie State and a 4-for-5 day against New Mexico State as part of his impressive conference campaign ... Homered back-to-back days to help GCU to a two-game midweek sweep of No. 4 Texas Tech.
2021 summer with Mat-Sun Miners in Alaskan League _ Batted .246 with three doubles, a homer, 15 RBIs in 37 games with a .548 OPS.
2021 spring at Grand Canyon as a freshman _ Hit .309 with five doubles, 18 RBIs and a .724 OPS in 45 games ... One of seven Lopes with over 30 starts to hit better than .300 ... Had 11 multi-hit games in his 31 starts including the opener of the Tucson Regional at Arizona ... Recorded at least one hit in 23 of his 31 starts making 26 starts as the DH and five in left field.
2020 season at Hamilton HS, Chandler, Ariz. as a senior _ Team was off to 8-0 start, ranking as high as No. 1 in the national rankings before COVID ended season.
2019 season at Hamilton HS, as a junior _ Hit .412 as a going 42-for-102 with 19 extra-base hits including seven home runs ... Helped Huskies to a 26-7 record and a state championship … With T-Rex Easton _ Champions with WWBA 18U West Memorial Day Classic in Phoneix
2018 season with T-Rex Easton _ WWBA Champion at 18U WWBA West Memorial Day Classic in Phoenix.
Honours: 2024 season as a senior at Grand Canyon _ Conference player of the year (GCU’s first player to win WAC Player of the Year since Quin Cotton in 2018) ... First team all conference ... Voted to Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-West Region Second Team ... Named to the All-Tucson Regional team ... 2022 season as a sophomore at Grand Canyon _ Voted First Team All-WAC honors as an at-large selection ... 2020 season _ Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason All-American and All-Region Teams West Second Team … 2019 season at Hamilton HS _ Earned all-state and all-region recognition as a junior … With T-Rex Easton _ Earned All-tournament team honors with WWBA 17U West National Championship in Phoenix … Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All American High Honorable Mention … 2018 season … Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason Underclass All American High Honorable Mention