Weston Wilson Reserves His Place In Phillies History
The slumping Brandon Marsh sat out against left-hander Mitchell Parker on Thursday. Rob Thomson might not have planned it so smoothly, but Marsh’s replacement Weston Wilson hit for the cycle in a 13-3 victory.
Weston Wilson Hits For Cycle
The rookie outfielder struck out in the bottom of the first inning. The Citizens Bank Park crowd focused more on the quick 4-0 ambush the Phillies put on the Washington Nationals, however.
Wilson got going in the fourth. He led off with a triple down the right field line. Alex Call didn’t handle the opposite field floater well, and a long bounce off the wall let Wilson get to third.
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The Phillies batted around in the inning and got their left fielder back to the plate. He hit a fluky 43 mile per hour pop-up/liner that somehow confused the right side of the Nationals infield for an unlikely single.
Wilson stepped back in the box in the seventh and slapped an opposite field home run that just cleared the right field wall.
The Phillies took an 11-3 lead in the inning. Rob Thomson inserted Marsh, Edmundo Sosa, and Cal Stevenson as late-inning reserves to give a few starters some rest. He deliberately skipped the chance to sit Wilson.
Wilson made the most of his manager’s courtesy in the eighth inning. Fans cheered the chance at history while he was in the on-deck circle. Bryce Harper pushed for him to try to stretch any hit into a double.
The 29-year-old journeyman looped a ball toward the right center field gap in his final at-bat. Alex Call dove but couldn’t handle it despite an ironic history against his opponent in the minors. Wilson stormed into second base for the cycle.
“He’s robbed me plenty of times in the minor leagues. I played against him a lot. He’s a great outfielder. I thought it was more in the gap, and then I saw him closing in. I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ I saw it trickle out.” –Weston Wilson
Phillies Hitting For Cycle
Weston Wilson became the only rookie in franchise history to hit for the cycle. Only eight other Phillies have accomplished the novelty, including Chuck Klein twice.
Phillies fans scratched their heads for 19 years when asked a trivia question about the most recent player on their favorite team to hit for the cycle.
David Bell isn’t exactly the first guess that comes to mind. However, the former third baseman and current Cincinnati Reds manager completed the cycle in June 2004 at Citizens Bank Park with a strange bounce off the left center field wall for a triple and the fourth and final leg.
J.T. Realmuto cycled at Chase Field in June 2023 to break the bizarre trivia bit. Weston Wilson matched him just 14 months later.
