Going Global: Baseball has taken Tyler Wilson around the world

Wappingers Falls, N.Y. -- Tyler Wilson grew up in a baseball family, but it wasn’t until he was nine years old when he first played organized baseball. His father, Steve, pitched for parts of six seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988-1993 and lasted in the minors for a few more years.

In 1996, Taiwan Major League Professional Baseball began, and Steve made the move to become a coach in the upstart league. But that wasn’t what ultimately ended up happening, as he ended up pitching for two seasons for the Kaohsuing-Pingtung Fala (now now as the Rakuten Monkeys), and remained in Taiwan to become a scout.

Steve still works in baseball, serving as an international scout for the Yankees, but has also shown an entrepreneurial streak. One of his first ventures was opening a bar and grill in Taiwan, a place where as fate would have it, he met his wife. A few years later, Tyler and his brother Liam were born.

“I was born in Taiwan, and I lived there until I was about nine years old,” Wilson said. “So there wasn't really much opportunity like in the U.S., where you have Little League and stuff like that. My dad introduced me to baseball when I was little, even though I wasn't able to play in any sort of league until I moved to the U.S. That's when I first started Little League.”

When his family moved to Arizona, Tyler quickly was engrossed in baseball. The game seemed to come naturally to him. What proved challenging at first was communication.

“My parents actually opened up an English school when I was in Taiwan,” Wilson said. “So I did learn English. I went to school, but I didn't really pay attention. When I came here, my English was pretty bad. I struggled a little bit for a couple years, but I picked it up decently quick.”

Just a few years after arriving in the US and playing organized baseball for the first time, Wilson enrolled at Hamilton High School. He joined a decorated baseball program, with alumni such as Yankees star Cody Bellinger. During high school, he was teammates with fellow Yankees prospect Brock Selvidge.

“We got four guys in the same organization that went to the same high school [also two-way player Josh Tiedemann],” Wilson said. “That's really rare and I think that just shows how good our high school program was and is still to this day. That's a pretty cool thing that we get to share.”

When it came time for college, Wilson stayed close to home. Growing up on the east side of the Phoenix metro area, he made the short trip across town to Grand Canyon University on the west side of Phoenix. In a foreshadowing of what was to come in his baseball career, Wilson played for former Yankee Andy Stankiewicz with the Lopes.

“I was about 14 playing for what was actually the Yankees scout team, which is funny enough,” Wilson said. “It was a high school team that would go play the junior colleges around the state. And so that was kind of my first exposure, where the coaches at Grand Canyon came out to one of our games and saw me playing.”

Stankiewicz departed to take the USC head coaching job after Wilson’s sophomore season, but he had a huge influence on how Wilson approaches the game.

“He kind of taught me everything that there is to know about being a baseball player,” Wilson said. “Whether that's mentally, physically, or just on and off the field with how you carry yourself. And so I owe a lot to him. He's taught me so much since my freshman year when I was there. I wouldn't be here without Grand Canyon or the coaching staff there.”

Wilson spent four seasons with Grand Canyon, hitting over .300 in each of those campaigns. During his first three years, he shared the field with 2025 MLB All-Star Jacob Wilson. The Athletics’ first round pick in 2023, Wilson hit .411 that spring for Grand Canyon and was a consensus All-American.

“None of our teammates who are playing pro ball now are surprised that he's doing what he's doing,” Wilson said. “Since he was a freshman, he's been doing that. Watching him take his at-bats and his process, the way he goes through things, it's just very high focus. He doesn't waste a swing and in batting practice, he always has a plan and he executes that plan very well.”

When asked about his teammate, Wilson immediately remembered a funny story. At one point during their time there, the team was really struggling to hit. During the rough stretch, Jacob was the only guy having success at the plate.

“As you all know if you've watched him play, he has that funky stance where he shakes a lot in the box,” Wilson said. “We all tried it and we all started raking in the cage. We were like, ‘maybe that's the key to hitting’. He's a great player, and I'm very proud of what he's doing right now.”

After the 2023 season, Wilson was hoping to get drafted alongside his teammate. It didn’t happen, which was certainly a disappointment at first. In the end, it proved to be a blessing in disguise.

As a senior at Grand Canyon, Wilson hit .378/.441/.691 with 17 home runs, 18 doubles, and 65 RBIs. He was taken in the eighth round of the 2024 MLB Draft by the Yankees and has already been very successful in his short pro career. In early August, Wilson earned the callup to High-A with the Renegades.

“I'm very blessed to be drafted by them,” Wilson said about the Yankees. “They have all the tools and all the necessities that you need to reach the goal that we all want, which is to be a big leaguer. I'm not talking down on the other organizations, but I have some buddies that are playing pro ball with different orgs. Hearing some of the stories they've shared with me, it’s made me realize how fortunate we are to be with the Yankees. They really take care of us and give us all the tools that we need to succeed.”

It's now been almost 15 years since Wilson and his family moved to the US. As he continues his pursuit of the major leagues, the 23-year-old is always conscious of where he came from.

“I’m very fortunate to have seen both sides of the world and how it works,” Wilson. “I just have seen how much more opportunity the kids in the US get. I'm very fortunate that my parents did decide to move me and my brother out to the US for our education and sports.”