The Pirates announced they’ve designated Bryse Wilson for assignment. The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for Jarlín García, who has officially signed his one-year deal with a 2024 club option.
A fourth-round draftee of the Braves out of a North Carolina high school in 2016, Wilson developed into one of the sport’s better pitching prospects a few seasons later. The right-hander ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 minor league talents in advance of the 2019 season after debuting with three MLB appearances late in the prior year.
Despite that lofty prospect pedigree, Wilson never got much run in the Atlanta starting staff. He’d start just six of 12 outings the next two years before picking up eight starts in the first half of the 2021 campaign. Wilson pitched fairly well at the Triple-A level but managed only a 5.90 ERA through 23 appearances in an Atlanta uniform. In advance of the ’21 trade deadline, the Braves dealt him and minor league pitcher Ricky DeVito to Pittsburgh for reliever Richard Rodríguez.
That trade didn’t pan out as either team had envisioned. Rodríguez struggled down the stretch and was non-tendered at the end of the season. Wilson has spent a season and a half in Pittsburgh but didn’t seize a permanent rotation spot. Since landing with the Bucs, he’s posted a 5.37 ERA across 156 innings in 33 appearances (28 starts). Wilson struck out a below-average 15% of opposing hitters while allowing a .279/.330/.484 line in just under 700 plate appearances.
Wilson did demonstrate the quality control for which he was credited as a prospect. He walked only 6.2% of opponents as a Pirate, including a 6.3% clip through 115 2/3 frames this past season. He induced grounders this year at a roughly average 43.3% rate, the highest of his career.
The Pirates squeezed Wilson out of the rotation in recent weeks with free agent additions of Vince Velasquez and Rich Hill. That duo figures to join Roansy Contreras, JT Brubaker and Mitch Keller in the season-opening starting five. They’ll now have a week to trade Wilson or attempt to run him through waivers.
While Wilson hasn’t yet found much MLB success, he could attract the interest of a pitching-needy club. He just turned 25 this month and had a strong prospect pedigree in the not too distant past. Wilson’s velocity has backed up in recent years, dropping from the 94-95 MPH range to roughly 91-92 MPH this year. He’s shown above-average control and mixes six pitches, however, so another team with some uncertainty at the back of their starting staff could look into a claim. Wilson is out of minor league option years, so an acquiring team would have to keep him on their active roster or again make him available to other clubs.
Bryse Wilson a nice power arm to pick up for some MLB team out there.
I wouldn’t call him a power arm or nice. Looks like a guy to battle for the final rotation spot on a bad team.
He’s miscast as a starting pitcher. He’s got a good fastball and slider and would profile as a really good setup man out of the bullpen. He’s not cutout to get hitters out multiple times per game. Some team like the Rays or Astros would turn him into a quality reliever.
@YourDreamGM- Well,aren’t the Pirates considered a “bad team”? It seems like a perfect match, then!
Only by people who know absolutely nothing about baseball. Wilson would be their 9th best starter at best.
@YourDreamGM- what about the bullpen? He has two power pitches, right, GM?
I never seen his two power pitches. Used to have an above average curve. Pirates have a stacked pen but that is where he needs a look. He should get another opportunity but it was time for Pittsburgh to move on.
By stacked I assume you mean many guys with two arms and two legs.
I was hoping they would convert him to the pen. Guy has control and a nice power arm. May up tick his fast ball to 98 mph by coming out for an inning or two. It unfortunate to let him go without experimenting by using him as a reliever.
Going from 93 to 98 is a heck of a jump. If that could be done then this is a terrible dfa and someone should be fired.
@yourdreamgm it wasn’t unheard of that guys fastball would jump up several notches after converting to reliever from starting pitcher. Kerry Wood, John Smoltz, and Dennis Eckersley are some examples of their fast ball being better and livelier as a reliever than a starting pitcher. Kris Benson and Francisco Liriano were others whom seen a huge increase as velocity of their fastball while their secondary pitches blended in very well.
Bryce Wilson has that potential if the organization knew what they are doing. Which has been a huge question mark over the last 100 years when development of their own product. Outside of Clemente, McCutchen, and (I believe) Stargell, Pirates haven’t been able to groom their own product. Manny Sanguillen, Dave Parker, Bobby Bonilla (poor example), Jeff King, Doug Drebeck, and many many more of Pirates legends, came by trade or sign. And this is where I think Ben Cherington has made possibly the worst move while GM of the Pirates by waiving Bryce Wilson. I am no scout expert, but I saw good in Wilson and think he is more suitable to the bullpen and potentially one of the best closers in the game. But that is here nor there.
King Parker were drafted by Pittsburgh. Clemente was a rule 5 pick. Bonds Kendell were ok players.
I thought Parker came from St Louis. As for Clemente, one can argue he was developed by the Pirates and their own product. As for Bonds, I purposely left him out and as for Jason Kendall, that ankle injury still gives me nightmares 20 years ago. I was sitting straight across from 1B 3 rows back from the field. The horror still sits with me
Wasn’t Clemente groomed by the Dodgers?
@bucsfan might have been. He was up and down in the majors and minors for a few years before sticking with the Pirates. I thought at least 2 years after the rule 5, he floated up and down between the majors and minors. He struggled in the later 1950s before putting it together in 1961.
Underwood Jr should have been the pitcher DFAed
Wilson has potential, Jr’s better days are behind him. plus Bryce is 5 years younger
The have to DFA another when they sign Rich Hill officially. Their roster currently stands at 40.
I can’t wait until he becomes a Cy Young contender next year.
Like he was in Atlanta?
Once you leave the Pirates, you are cured. Charlie Morton wasn’t an ace with the Braves or Pirates either.
Yeah I forgot the Pirates had the exact same front office and coaching staff when Morton played as they do now. Oh wait…
You don’t think Atlanta of all teams know what they have in a pitcher?
@TJECK: Braves fan here who says “No, they’re not infallible.” They waived Kevin Gausman after trading for him only to see him pitch extremely well in SF.
Has nothing to do with the coaching staff or management, just is.
Nor was Jon Lieber or Jason Schmidt
Player development is the same as last General Manager.
So yes when pitchers leave Pittsburgh they have a better chance at fulfilling their potential
Pittsburg traded an at the time valuable reliever for him so at least two teams considered him an asset. I’m pretty sure we all know where he’ll be in 2023
someone else that can’t spell
Pittsburgh has an H
Smacky the smackoff. H at the end
Phittsbherg
San Fransisco or Boston?
They can get their H back when they’re relevant again.
Last few outings at end of year were not bad. Surprised they didn’t get rid of Underwood who has no potential.
Who is going to help beat the Reds for us? We won 3 out of 4 of his starts.
What’s with Underwood anyway? What’s he have that every Pirates fan is missing?
he must have dirt on ben cherington
Underwood to me is an incredibly boring average middle inning reliever. But that also usually keeps you in the majors. Other than the predictable (Nutting is cheap how can they pay him comment), I do think he is better than most of what will cycle through the back of the bullpen. His FIP last year was 2.92. I know that can fluctuate a lot for relievers and in his case probably driven by only giving up 1 HR. ie. I think he is worth keeping
Nutting can’t be that cheap, Underwood won his arbitration case this year and Wilson still has 3 years of control left
He has plenty of potential. That’s why he is still there. I project him to have his best year by far. Especially if they dfa him. I am rooting hard for him to get dfa so I can tell pirate fans I told you so.
What a sad life you must have.
l9l
I remember him in 2019 blanking the Phillies over 5 innings, and then holding them to 2 runs on 5 hits over 6 innings. That start may have been the highlight reel of his career.
The NLCS game vs. The Dodgers
Funny how some teams just can’t seem to make prospects pan out. Pirates couldn’t do anything with Charlie Morton or Jason Schmidt and both been very successful once they left Pittsburg.
Morton had some good years. Just had better years elsewhere.
Pittsburgh has a. H
learn how to spell
The people who leave off the H in Pittsburgh, must be tRumpers
after all, he loves the poorly educated, Buuba
Or Cole, Glasnow, Baz
More hits allowed than innings pitched..not much of a K guy. MAYBE focus on his 2,3 best pitches and let him battle for a bullpen role? Kid definitely has youth on his side..
Remember when Atlanta traded him away I thought they had messed up. Turns out they sold high on him. 2020 he was very solid for the Braves on the post season. Won’t be surprised that some team didn’t pick him up and make him a decent back of rotation pitcher.
They may have sold high but this was a bust trade for both teams.
He was part of the Richard Rodriguez trade who by the time of the trade had been falling a part because of the rules on sticky substances. Net… not sure they really sold high on him if he was one of 2 players traded for Rodriguez.
Whatever happened to Richard Rodriguez?
Casualty of sticky baseball rules.
“Rodríguez struggled down the stretch and was non-tendered at the end of the season.” 27 appearances for the Braves, 3.12 ERA, 1.077 WHIP. Must be his FIP that got him.
It was the frequency of his pitches ending up on the bad side of the OF fences.
According to BR, pitched some in AAA for the Mets last season.
He looked like an All-Star for about 15 minutes not long ago.
It wasn’t the Mets AAA, it was the Yankees AAA
PED suspension cost him a lot of last season.
Dodgers on line 1
Quick downfall from that 6 ING playoff performance against the 2020 Dodgers
We’ll always remember that start against LA in the NLCS.
Really hope the Braves go get him. Always felt we did him dirty by moving him through the system fast and calling him up and down all the time. He showed occasional flashes like he might turn into a nice rotation arm. He’s put on a lot of weight though after being jacked coming out of high school
He’s had his chance. If he can’t make it in the NL Central, he’ll be pitching BP in the NL East. Now he’d be taking up a rotation spot or a better arm (Elder, Schuster, etc).
You can’t have too much depth. My hope is he falls through claims and Braves sign him to a minor league deal. He’s worth that at the least. I mean heck, we got Allard back and he’s just as bad lol
A SP that hasn’t been successful at the ML level in 43 games started over 5 years with no track record for bullpen work, a career 5.26 FiP and never a full season anywhere close to an average ERA+ is not depth.
I would love the Braves to pick him up. He was tremendous in the 2020 NLCS
Bryce Wilson > Jarlin Garcia
On neither this planet nor any other is that true.
Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Bryse is better…#bryseisbetter!
Once upon a time Bryse Wilson was going to be part of the Pirates future. Then, he got squeezed off of the roster by Rich Hill, so I guess not anymore.
farhan go get him!
Bryse Wilson’s 2nd to last start with the Pirates, 8 innings, no runs…clearly they should drop him at…25. He really did look like he had a ton of potential when he was with the braves…just don’t get leaving him in the minors , he wasn’t out of options, was he?
Out of options. That 2nd to last start didn’t impress Cherington.
Blind squirrel/ acorn, maybe?
Good move- hope they can trade him. Not in plans for the future. Underwood needs to go as well. Cubs had him and let him go .
No loss
The Pirates dropped this guy for a 43 year old.Some youth movement.
He could have been the long man out of the bullpen and done fine.If he did not improve,they could have got rid of him then.
He could also have been insurance for the injuries to come to Hill and Velasquez.
BC is outthinking himself.
Wilson…Thompson. Haven’t we seen enough? Almost carbon copies where being clueless about location is concerned
Literally, in all of these years of watching baseball, I have never seen a pitching staff so obsessed with throwing fastballs dead red. This guy, especially
I get that Brubaker has some modicum of potential. But he’s another guy who misses badly in the middle of the zone. I get that Contreras is young and learning and that Keller is improving
But what I continue to “get” is the idea that whomever is instructing and developing pitchers is failing wbere communication is concerned—at least with the starters
Meanwhile, we have Hill and Velasquez, two signings that would tend to say that Priester and others in the minors aren’t ready
I know the Pirates are thinking they will improve this year, but the future can’t come soon enough where these kinds of signings are ancient history
Won’t be a surprise if he’s decent somewhere else
I look at it more of Dropping Bryce for Velasquez which is almost as bad if not worse out side of the price tag.
Big side with Hill is that he can pass on some veteran knowledge before he is traded. Honestly even with his age I would’ve went 7m at 6m with a 1m buy out option. A full season of Hill might give the young guys the help they need. I think Ben worked with Hill before(?)
But I think we can agree Bryce was was having major issues and his time is limited here.
Well, so much for that auto’d Wilson ball I got in my Pirates’ Charities bag this year…
Knowing the Pirates’ recent history, he’ll hook on another team, get together with a true “teaching” pitching instructor, and will win 20 this year. Don’t give that ball to the dog as a chew toy just yet
The Mariners and Pirates may still hook up on a deal for Bryan Reynolds and move Reynolds to left field. The M’s have a number of young players that could fill lots of holes for Pittsburgh. For example:
The Pirates need highly rated young pitchers as well as a young, seasoned starter.
The Mariners could trade their Minor League Pitcher of the Year who is 25-6 in two years of minor league play and ready for AAA or higher in 2023…..TAYLOR DOLLARD.
They could package DOLLARD (16-2, 2.25 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 144 IP with only 106 H in 2022) with young (28) veteran starter CHRIS FLEXEN, a solid #4 or #5 starter since returning from overseas play.
The Pirates are also weak in 1B prospects with aging veterans at the position in 2023, so the M’s could sweeten the deal by adding their Minor League Hitter of the Year, ROBERT PEREZ, JR., who hit .288/.398/.921 OPS with 27 HR, 114 RBI, and 100 R in 2022.
The Mariners have no ready replacement for Wong at 2B who is on a one-year deal, so the Pirates might throw in a top 2B prospect (they have three) and ask the M’s for either Trammell or Kelenic AND a young MLB relief pitcher such as Penn Murphy (4-0, 2.99 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 76 K in 69 IP).
The M’s get Bryan Reynolds and a good “near ready” 2B prospect.
The Pirates get MLB starter Chris Flexen, MLB reliever Penn Murphy, Minor League Pitcher of the Year Taylor Dollard, Minor League Hitter of the Year Robert Perez, Jr., and outfielder Taylor Trammell, who was a former #1 prospect for Cincinnati and #2 prospect. for San Diego.
Seems to me that the Pirates would be nuts to turn down a deal like that.