While the reacquisition of pitcher Wade Miley this week received the bulk of the media attention, the Milwaukee Brewers quietly bolstered their already-productive starting rotation with a deal that could prove valuable in September and October. The Brewers received righty Bryse Wilson from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash, and the 25-year-old just may be an important piece to Milwaukee’s 2023 puzzle.
DEPTH IS NEVER A BAD THING
Yes, the Brewers’ starting pitching rotation is arguably their strong suit, and other more pressing needs could and should be addressed. However, being a winning team over the 162-game season often proves to be a case of who can stay healthy the best. According to Adam McCalvy in his January 6, 2023, edition of “Brewers Beat,” the Brew Crew initially plan to use Wilson as a starter.
McCalvy reported that “Wilson said he’s had conversations with Brewers senior vice president of player personnel Karl Mueller and pitching coach Chris Hook. who told him to come to Spring Training ready to compete for a spot in the rotation.” When added to the outstanding group of incumbent starters that include Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser, and Aaron Ashby, not to mention prospect Jason Alexander and newly-obtained Miley and Janson Junk, it looks like an overcrowded group.
McCalvy writes: “It sounds like too many cooks in the kitchen, but remember that Alexander made 11 starts last season. Depth is a good thing, though the fact Wilson is out of options means the Brewers cannot easily stash him in the Minor Leagues.”
BIG-GAME EXPERIENCE
Before Wilson’s tenure with the Pirates, he played for the Atlanta Braves, the team who drafted him in the 4th round of the 2016 MLB amateur draft. Baseball Prospectus ranked him as high as #60 in their Top 100 prospects, and in 2020, Wilson proved the prognosticators right. Forced into an emergency start in game 4 of the 2020 National League Championship Series, Wilson outpitched Dodgers’ legend Clayton Kershaw, giving up just one hit and one run over six innings, and Atlanta beat Los Angeles, 10-2. Even though the Dodgers won the series and eventually that year’s World Series, Wilson proved his mettle when the lights were brightest.
Wilson’s sample size of MLB experience is small and relatively unimpressive; over 56 career games, he is 9-17 with a 5.54 ERA. However, the reward, should he pan out and live up to his prospect hype, is far greater than the risk the Brewers staked in obtaining him.
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1 Comment
Relatively unimpressive? I think he’s been just plain unimpressive. That’s not to say he’s not worth a flyer, but I am not holding out any belief he’d be anything more than a back end starter on a bad team