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player ready...Reggie Wilson didn’t mention it until after the fact.
The Railcats’ outfielder played all of last season with a left elbow injury.
It happened on a swing during spring training, and he tried to manage the ailment throughout the season as best he could.
“It didn’t pop or anything, but it locked up on me,” Wilson said. “It hindered me from the beginning of the year. It was uncomfortable to swing. Every day, it was painful. Every day.
“I’ll never say anything about an injury. If I had a broken leg, I wouldn’t say anything. Trust me.”
But the minute last season ended, Wilson took time off, resting about a month to allow his elbow to heal.
The 24-year-old Wilson is healthy this season, and the Texas native has started with a flourish.
Wilson went 2-for-4 with a double Saturday as the RailCats lost 8-3 to St. Paul at the Steel Yard. He went 3-for-5 with a double, RBI and run in Friday’s opening-night win.
“I’m not trying to do too much, just focusing on each at-bat,” Wilson said.
Wilson is in his third season with the RailCats. He initially joined them in 2016 as a stopgap with two outfielders injured. He wound up spending the final month and hitting .337.
“He stepped in and just was tremendous that year,” RailCats manager Greg Tagert said of Wilson. “He was spectacular.”
But Wilson dropped off to .239 last season, although he still led the team with 52 walks and was second with a .364 on-base percentage.
Tagert cautioned against underestimating Wilson’s all-around contributions.
“He’s a winning player — he is,” Tagert said. “He knows he’ll frustrate me from time to time, he catches those balls a little dangerously in left field — he’s more confident than I am.
“But if you get 24 Reggie Wilsons on your team, they don’t care if they’re playing St. Paul, Winnipeg, he believes he’s the best guy on the field.”
Tagert added the 5-foot-9, 165-pound Wilson plays with a chip on his shoulder.
“A player with his size, he doesn’t have the stature, players sometimes get overlooked because of that,” Tagert said.
In addition to the elbow problem last season, Wilson also struggled with his vision. At Tagert’s urging, Wilson got his eyesight checked and began wearing contact lenses late last July after the All-Star break.
“I’ve been rocking with them ever since,” Wilson said. “When I was going to swing before, I wasn’t seeing anything.”
Wilson’s batting average still hovered below the Mendoza line at .199 through last July 11. But he hit .297 after that point to finish at that high-water mark of .239.
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After last season’s issues, Wilson was happy to be at full strength this season.
“You can never get complacent,” Wilson said. “It’s always staying hungry. It’s always looking to get better every day.”