The Brewers announced that they have acquired right-hander Bryse Wilson from the Pirates. Wilson had been designated for assignment last week by the Bucs, who will receive cash considerations from Milwaukee in this deal.
Wilson, 25, was selected by Atlanta in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. He shot up prospect rankings in 2018, as he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A and the majors at the age of 20. After that surge, he was ranked the #80 prospect in the league by Baseball America going into the 2019 season.
Unfortunately, Wilson hasn’t been able to deliver on that excitement in the subsequent seasons. Atlanta frequently optioned him to the minors over the 2019-2021 seasons, only allowing him to make 20 big league appearances in that time. They then flipped him to Pittsburgh at the deadline in 2021 as part of the Richard Rodríguez trade.
With the Bucs in 2022, he got his most extended stretch of MLB action thus far in his career, tossing 115 2/3 innings over 20 starts and six relief appearances. He posted a 5.52 ERA in that time with solid a 6.3% walk rate and 43.3% ground ball rate but a meager 15.5% strikeout rate.
Now out of options, it seems Wilson’s rotation opportunities dried up in Pittsburgh, but the Brewers are willing to take a shot. The front of the Milwaukee rotation is spoken for with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta and Eric Lauer taking the first four spots. Wilson could be in competition for the final spot with the likes of Aaron Ashby and Adrian Houser. An injury to anyone in the rotation could open things up a bit, but it’s also possible that a couple of the guys in that trio end up in the bullpen as long relief options.
