Bryse Wilson, a native of Hillsborough and a graduate of Orange High School, was traded from the Atlanta Braves to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday in a three-player deal. Wilson, 23, was drafted by the Braves in the fourth round in 2016. He is 2-3 with a 4.83 ERA and 21 strikeouts in seven starts this season with Atlanta.
The deal came just minutes before the Major League close of trading. The Braves acquired the Pirates rescuer Richard Rodriguez and sent Wilson and right-handed Ricky DeVito to Pittsburgh.
Wilson wowed Braves fans last year in the National League Championship Series when he held the Los Angeles Dodgers to a six innings hit on his very first playoff appearance. At the start of the 2021 season, Wilson was slated to take a spot in Atlanta’s starting rotation. But the Braves were pitching deeper than the bullpen, and Wilson has mostly traveled back and forth between Atlanta and AAA Gwinnett, where he was 5-2 with a 4.23 ERA and 42 strikeouts in nine starts.
He told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he was excited about trading with the pirates. “Just a great group of guys and I was welcomed with open arms – not just the team and staff, but the fans as well,” said Wilson. “I couldn’t be more excited about doing all I can to improve and help this team achieve the goal we are all pursuing.”
Wilson is leaving third-placed Braves, a team that hovered at the .500 mark for most of the season, for last-placed Pirates, a team to 40 wins and 65 losses. But he’s practically guaranteed a heavier, more consistent workload for the remainder of the season, and he will potentially be a starting pitcher on which Pittsburgh can build.
The pirates won’t waste time putting Wilson’s feet in the fire and sending him up the hill Monday night to face the Milwaukee Brewers, the first-placed team in the National League Central.
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