Every September 1st, each Major League Baseball roster expands to 40 players. On Saturday, Bryse Wilson returned to the show.
Wilson was promoted by the Atlanta Braves to the parent club, one of seven players added to the active roster. The move came 12 days after Wilson made his Major League debut with Atlanta in a start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Wilson threw five shutout innings against the Pirates, striking out five while yielding just three hits with three walks.
Wilson is just one of a corps of young guns that the Braves franchise is building on for the future. Also on Saturday, Atlanta called up 20-year-old Touki Toussaint from the Gwinnett Stripers of the International League. They also recalled outfielder Michael Reed from Gwinnett.
The day after the Pittsburgh start, the Braves sent him back down to Gwinnett, where he remained until being called up on Saturday. Wilson hasn’t started a game since the Pirates victory. He has made two appearances out of the bullpen for Gwinnett since returning to AAA, throwing one inning against Charlotte on August 26th. On Wednesday, he made his final appearance for the Stripers in relief against the Norfolk Tides, giving up three hits and two runs in one inning of work.
Overall, Wilson went 3-0 at Gwinnett with a 5.32 ERA. He struck out 28 batters with three walks.
Wilson watched Atlanta’s 5-3 victory over the Pirates from the bullpen at SunTrust Park in a Braves uniform.
Wilson has played for four different teams since April. He started with the Florida Fire Frogs of the Single-A Florida State League in Kissimmee, Florida in April. He started five games with the Fire Frogs, where he went 2-0 with a 0.34 ERA. In 26.2 innings, he gave up just one earned run, striking out 26 while walking seven.
Less than a month after starting the season with Florida, Wilson was promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the Southern League. Wilson had a lack of run support in his initial starts at the AA level. He compiled a 3-5 record with a 3.97 ERA in 15 starts. In Wilson’s last eight starts in Mississippi, the Braves failed to score more than three runs.
Wilson improved as time went on, leading all of minor league baseball in the month of July with 42 strikeouts, despite being the youngest pitcher at the AA level at 20 years old.
In his 3rd AAA start with the Gwinnett Braves, Wilson set the franchise record with 13 strikeouts against the Louisville Bats. On the very day he was named the International League Pitcher of the Week, he was called up to Atlanta.
Wilson’s return to Atlanta came with a quirk of fate. It was the same day that Wilson’s brother, Payton, was supposed to make his debut with the N.C. State football team in its season-opener against James Madison. However, Payton tore the ACL in his right knee last spring, leading to a likely redshirt this season. Payton originally injured his right knee on the opening kickoff last October’s Orange-Cedar Ridge game, ending his accomplished high school career.