Future Redbirds

One of you asked if we can take a look at RHP Josh Wilson of the QC. Ask and ye shall receive.

Josh Wilson was selected in the second round (70th overall) of the 2005 draft out of Whitehouse HS in Tyler, TX. Prior to the draft Baseball American ranked him the 124th best draft prospect and had this scouting blurb on Wilson:

Based on his standout performance at the Area Code Games last summer and at Whitehouse High this spring, Wilson was making a case to go in the first two rounds. He pitched at 91-93 mph and touched 94-95 with his fastball, and his curveball showed the makings of becoming a plus pitch. Wilson leveled off a little afterward, working at 88-90 mph and losing command of his curve. Now he appears to be a third- or fourth-rounder. Though Wilson isn’t tall, he has long arms that create a good downward plane on his pitches. There’s some effort to his delivery, but not to the point that scouts are overly concerned.

Apparently, scouts should have been more concerned, and I’ll get into that in a moment. Wilson started 12 games for Johnson City and had somewhat of a rocky debut. He had 32 K’s in 53.1 innings, with 23 walks and 7 homers allowed for a 5.00 FIP. Wilson started at the Quad Cities the following season but after 3 starts it was discovered that he had tore his labrum–an injury that can be the kiss of death for many a young pitcher. He’s rehabbed his way back and threw 8 innings last season for Batavia but experienced a set back and was sidelined for the rest of year.

Healthy now, Wilson has thrown 52.1 innings this season, with 32 K’s to 16 walks and 4 HR allowed. While Wilson hasn’t allowed a lot of runs, his 14.7% K/PA rate is hardly inspiring. He’s reinvented himself more into a control pitcher, and having seen him once on TV here locally he doesn’t look like he throws awfully hard but he’s pretty pinpoint with his command as the numbers bear out. He’s still relatively young at 21 and could show improvement as he gains strength. On the negative I’m not overly encouraged by the track record of the minor league pitchers in the system who go down with shoulder injuries–Hawksworth, McCormick and at the big league level–Mark Mulder :ugh:.

I’m not saying he can’t come back, and he was certainly was dominating in his last start-one of you noted he threw 8 balls total in his last start, and he struck out a batter per inning, so that’s a start. I just can’t get overly excited about him until he starts missing more bats on a regular basis.