The best prospect we never talk about

[thecrow124]

Justin Wilson.

He never gives up hits and he strikes out a lot of batters. His on knock is that he gives up to many walks. However, the Pirates have been working with him on changing his delivery, and it appears to be working better than they could have hoped. In his last 30IP, he has walked only 8 batters, that, for him is good. However during that same time, he has only allowed 12 hits and 5 earned runs. He also has 33 K's in that time.

I realize it is a small sample size and all, but every one of those numbers are improvements over his season averages. He is very age appropriate for AAA, and his numbers compare favorably to Trevor Bauer's numbers at AAA. Plus he is a lefty. I bring up Bauer, not to compare the two or say that Wilson should be up, but that I feel Bauer was not ready and should not be in the major leagues.

Anyway, I think Wilson is a definite option for the bullpen later this year, and a rotation candidate going forward. Probably the best option of everyone at AAA.

 

[steelparrot]

A few years ago our AAA lefties would have all been in our top 5 prospects and at least two of them would be in the rotation. A nice change!

IF Wilson has figured a way to get better control, he is heads and shoulders above Locke and Owens.

 

[sychmd]

he should be the next spot starter when a DH or injury or rest is necessary.
get him some exposure to starting in MLB so he can be ready to compete next spring or be a valuable chip in an offseason trade for THE bat at catcher or SS.

 

[element1286]

Good call Crow, definitely a guy we don't talk enough about. I heard he was hitting 99 in the sixth inning yesterday. Although I take that with a grain of salt, but he does hold his velocity very well.

I don't know anything about his other pitches, though.

 

[Etrius24]

99 miles per hour.... wow..I did not know he threw that hard. even if it was only 97 ..that is still elite velocity.

 

[Darkstone42]

I didn't realize he threw that hard, either. Why doesn't anyone talk about him?

 

[sychmd]

dont think 99 and wilson ever went together.

if that is true, and he continues to incorporate the recent tweeks to his approach, that is another great chip for trades.

we have cole, owens, wilson, vanderhuk, taillon, compton, locke, morris, heredia on hte horizon.

we have mcdonald, karstens, morton, for several years and
burnett for maybe 2-3 more after this if he is needed as he seems to like it here and if we are winning.

we need to resurrect bedard, give him a 21 day dl to rest and recuperate or start to audition another number 4 as he is on fade. wouldnt mind giving wilson and owens some audition starts in july and august in place of bedard,

 

[element1286]

I knew he could hit 99 out of the pen, never heard him doing it during a start, especially in the 6th inning. Although the gun could have been hot, and he was just hitting 96, which would still be pretty damn good.

 

[sychmd]

agreed

 

[thedddd]

I totally agree also.

I read he is more fit to be a reliever with a fastball/curveball combo?

 

[steelparrot]

We are going to need two more starters next year. Bedard and Corriea are both going to be free agents and Morton is out. Karstens and Burnett will be free agents after next year too. So, I dont think we can really trade our AAA starters or Lincoln, we are going to need two of them in the rotation sooner than later.

 

[thecrow124]

From everything I have read about him, he has a lot of movement on all of his pitches, which is why his walk numbers are so high. However, when he throws harder, his movement isn't so bad, so his control actually seems better. That is completely backwards from conventional wisdom, but for him maybe it works.
The guy is so talented that I would give him every single opprotunity to succeed as a starting pitcher before I relegated him to a bullpen role. I haven't heard of him hitting 99 as a starter, but he was that high out of the pen late last year. I have heard him sitting 94-96 late into games as a starter.
No one seems to be able to hit him, his hit totals are low every year, so his potential is going to be determined by how many people he walks. If he can limit his walks to 3 per 9 innings, I think he can be a solid starter, but if he walks 4+ per 9 I think he is going to have a lot of trouble, regardless of how many hits he gives up. It is very rare that a pitcher can give up that many walks and not have it hurt him. Just ask Trevor Bauer.
Anyway, if we are going to trade AAA starters, this is the one I would try to hold on to, which is saying a lot because I believe that Rudy Owens is probably the best prospect of the three, but he does not have the ceiling of Wilson, his floor is just a lot higher.

 

[thecrow124]

We are going to need two more starters next year. Bedard and Corriea are both going to be free agents and Morton is out. Karstens and Burnett will be free agents after next year too. So, I dont think we can really trade our AAA starters or Lincoln, we are going to need two of them in the rotation sooner than later.

There is always a starter that can be picked up during free agency. However, I see what you are saying. This is the reason that everyone says you can never have too much pitching. However, you also really never know what might happen. I have been a proponent of re-signing Burnett since day 1, I would try to get him for 2 more years after this contract. That would give us a top of the rotation of Cole, McDonald and Burnett. After that you really only need guys that don't completely suck. Lincoln could possibly fill one of those roles, and the other could be filled by a Correia type, which is not hard to find.
That would leave us with Taillon, Appel (yes we will sign him), Cain and Cumpton at AAA, Heredia, Kingham and Holmes at AA, and others in the system and future draft picks throughout. That is strong and dee IMO.

 

[sychmd]

in the last 11 starts, only 3 good ones by bedard, including tonites debacle.
time to put him on the DL for fatigue and give owens or wilson a couple starts and see if we can replace bedard for the stretch drive.

not sure if he can be a situational lefty out of the BP for the rest of this year, but i am done seeing him as a starter this year and willing to roll the dice with our young guys next year. (if he has been pitching injured since he went down with back issue in early may, then i may reconsider, but that just reinfores how fragile he is year to year).

 

[Etrius24]

Everyone knew that Bedard was not the same durable pitcher from 5 years ago... But he gave the bucs 2 good months ...His fade is something that has happened of late. Maybe he is still bothered by a nagging injury??? Maybe the time off will help!

I am not sure a DL stint is necessary...necessarily Bring up Wilson or Owens...Give them a spot start...try to get 3 or 4 innings out of them.. Have Lincoln come in for 2-3 innings of mop up duty...With the all star break and one skipped start after the break..The bucs would not need Bedard again until Monday July the 23rd...And if they had to because of a day off on the 19th they could skip his turn in the rotation...But I do not like that because I think all the starters need as much rest as we can give them down the stretch...

...So from Friday the 6th until the 23rd is a good deal of time to rest and get over a nagging injury...This is a low risk move that could pay huge dividends if it meant that Bedard would be in his early season dominant form when he was the teams best starter.

 

[thecrow124]

So, after 6 consecutive mediocre at best, starts in a row, Justin Wilson goes out and throws an 8 inning no hitter tonight with only 1 walk. In his last 10 starts he has pitched 50.1 innings and allowed 55 base runners, 28 of those by walks, yes he has walked more batters in his last 10 starts than have gotten hits off of him. On the season he has pitched 125.1 innings given up 83 hits and 68 walks.

Honestly, at gis point I have no idea what to think, he has #1 pitcher type stuff with bullpen type command. Hopefully, this is just him still trying to get used to the new pitching style, and eventually he will learn to control the pitches better, because that left arm can be golden sometimes. Other times, not so much.

 

[magnumo]

So..... Wilson pitches a no-hitter in his first start..... AFTER the Pirates announced he was moving to the bullpen. I'm happy that he pitched such a nice game, but I gotta wonder what's going on. Perhaps the Pirates' brain trust changed its mind.

This article from MiLB doesn't mention anything about a move to the bullpen:

Rain can't wash Wilson's no-no away | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball

 

[thecrow124]

So..... Wilson pitches a no-hitter in his first start..... AFTER the Pirates announced he was moving to the bullpen. I'm happy that he pitched such a nice game, but I gotta wonder what's going on. Perhaps the Pirates' brain trust changed its mind.

This article from MiLB doesn't mention anything about a move to the bullpen:

Rain can't wash Wilson's no-no away | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball

I think he was going to the bullpen just so he could be called up to help the Pirates in September, the organization still sees him as a starter for the long run. That guy out of the pen could be like David Price was for the Rays a few years ago.

 

[thedddd]

Ok looking through the minor league rosters/stats it is a shame their other "1st" round pick Barnes is on the DL. He was putting up some good numbers in his first pro season in State College.

Granted not a prospect but I totally forget about this guy - Rinku Singh and the other one Patel? Looks like Singh is still around and not pitching that bad with the Spikes.

 

[thecrow124]

Singh is pitching well, Patel was released after last season, if Singh makes it to AA it will be a m major victory. Something tells me though that if he makes it that far, NH will find a way to get him an inning or two at the major league level.
Another guy that sin't quite a prospect anymore putting up descend numbers is Eric Avila. He seems to struggle in his first season at each level, so it is hard to see him making it to the major league, but if he has figured it out he could be interesting.