Pirates A to Z: Searching for consistency, Bryse Wilson will have to battle for starting job

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Miguel Andujar to pitcher Bryse Wilson.

Player: Bryse Wilson

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Age: 24 (Dec. 20)

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 250 pounds

2022 MLB statistics: Went 3-9 with a 5.52 ERA and 1.42 WHIP with 79 strikeouts, 32 walks and 20 home runs allowed in 25 appearances, including 20 starts

Contract: Not yet eligible for arbitration

Acquired: From the Atlanta Braves, along with minor league pitcher Ricky DeVito, for reliever Richard Rodriguez in July 2021

This past season: After being traded at the deadline from the eventual World Series champions to a team that lost 101 games, Wilson wasn’t worried about what he missed so much as what was ahead of him.

“I wouldn’t say it’s bittersweet,” Wilson said. “At the end of the day, I get a ring. A lot of people will probably say there’s an asterisk beside that ring, but at the end of the day, I have a World Series ring. I’m hoping we can accomplish that here.”

The Pirates were counting on his experience, as Wilson made his major league debut at age 20 and outdueled Clayton Kershaw in the NLCS two years later before struggling in 2021.

“The biggest thing we talked about with him was what’s your identity, (talking) about creating your identity,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “He’s done that with his pitch usages and what he’s done in the offseason to improve some of his pitches. I think it’s really easy to forget how young he is because of the experience he’s had at a young age.”

Wilson, howeer, ended up going back and forth between starting and the bullpen – with a few stops at Triple-A Indianapolis in between.

Over his first eight appearances, including five starts, Wilson was 0-3 with a 7.53 ERA and 1.80 WHIP while allowing a slash line of .314/.375/.492 in 28⅔ innings.

The Pirates attempted to get him on track by moving him to a relief role, something he’d done on occasion in Atlanta.

“I tried to take that approach of treating it like a normal bullpen outing, regardless of how many innings I was going to go,” Wilson said. “That was the biggest thing for me, just being able to switch that mindset and treat it like a bullpen outing rather than worrying about not being able to do my routine.”

Wilson had his worst outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 22, when he allowed seven runs on six hits and two walks in 1⅔ innings in an 18-4 loss that completed a three-game sweep.

“He’s got to command the baseball better,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s either off the plate or in the middle of the plate, and you can’t pitch in the big leagues effectively if you don’t throw strikes, and when you throw strikes, (they) are in the middle of the plate.”

Wilson got hit hard (43.8%), as opponents had a .291 expected batting average and .474 expected slugging percentage against him last season. Wilson blamed his early problems on execution, getting behind in counts and giving up soft contact. His 20 home runs allowed were the most by any Pirates starter.

He was optioned to Indianapolis the next day.

“It’s coming down to the fact that he’s got to put the ball in play,” Shelton said. “That was our message to him. He’s a guy that has commanded the ball throughout his career and thrown strikes, but it’s just not as consistent as it needs to be right now.”

Bryse Wilson, Filthy 78mph Breaking Ball. ????

6th K pic.twitter.com/xDKfpglAbl

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 28, 2022

Wilson bounced back and forth between the minors and majors, making three spot starts, two of them in doubleheaders. Where he was dominant at Indy – going 5-0 with a 2.97 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 34 strikeouts and six walks in six starts – Wilson learned to focus on his sinker/slider combination while developing a split-fingered fastball to get ground balls at a career-best 44.8% rate.

“I think that’s something I’ve kind of had to come to terms with, and I’m perfectly fine with,” Wilson said. “If they want to hit the ball 100-plus mph on the ground, go for it because it’s going to turn into, at the worst, a single. Most of the time it’s an out. My stuff, that’s what it creates. It creates negative launch angle, and I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned to come to terms with is if I’m not getting the swings and misses or the strikeouts, I can get through five innings tonight with 60 something pitches and that’s perfectly fine with me.”

Creating consistency with his control was another key. By mid-August, Wilson went a stretch where he allowed only five walks over 44⅔ innings, which he credited to mechanical adjustments and increased confidence to trust his pitches no matter the count.

“Lack of execution is probably the biggest thing,” Wilson said. “I need to control my misses, make sure my misses are at least competitive pitches. It’s execution.”

Bryse Wilson with 6 K's over his career-high 8 innings.

Wilson has 10 groundball outs, allowed just 3 hits and walked 1 as the @Pirates hold a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the 8th on AT&T SportsNet#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/zb7LKQCTdL

— AT&T SportsNet™ PIT (@ATTSportsNetPIT) September 28, 2022

Wilson wasn’t rewarded with a win for his best performance of the season, when he tossed a three-hitter with six strikeouts over a career-best eight scoreless innings in a 4-3 walk-off win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 28. After throwing 90 pitches, Wilson was replaced with a 3-0 lead by Chase De Jong for the ninth inning. De Jong gave up a single to Spencer Steer followed by back-to-back homers to Kyle Farmer and Jake Fraley to tie the game.

But over his final 14 appearances, including 12 starts, Wilson had a 4.80 ERA with opponents slashing .262/.316/.461. Not great numbers, but clearly an improvement for Wilson, who finished the season with a 2.47 strikeout-to-walk rate.

“I think the big thing is we have to control the walks,” Shelton said. “Giving up damage in a game, if it is preceded by walks, that’s when you can get in trouble. And so that is something that I think we need to continue to focus on, and that comes from pounding the zone and keeping the ball down in the zone.”

The future: Where Wilson spent last spring fighting for a spot in the starting rotation, he will have to battle for a spot on the 26-man roster next year.

The Pirates return Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker and Roansy Contreras and, after signing free agent Vince Velasquez to a one-year, $3.15 million contract, announced that he would join the starting rotation.

That likely leaves only one starting job open. Wilson will have competition from trade deadline aquisition Johan Oviedo and rookie Luis Ortiz, not to mention Zach Thompson.

The odd man out could move to a long relief role in the bullpen, so it’s a matter of whether Wilson can show some consistency. He’ll be 25 when the season starts and has pitched 232 innings over 56 outings, including 43 career starts, so he has both youth and experience on his side.

And a World Series ring, even if it comes with an asterisk.