Bryse Wilson Understands His Assignment as Brewers' Long Reliever

Since July 10, 171 pitchers throughout Major League Baseball have thrown at least 20 innings. Bryse Wilson is the only one who has not issued a walk. July 10 was the day Wilson signed a big-league deal to return to the Brewers, for whom he filled every role from starter to high-leverage reliever across the 2023 and 2024 seasons. This time around, his role has been more strictly defined as the long man. It's the least glamorous task on a pitching staff and comes with a mundane job description: throw strikes to eat innings. Because the game is often nearly decided by the time a long reliever takes over, keeping runs off the board is a plus, but not a necessity.

Wilson understands his assignment and has flooded the strike zone with impressive efficiency. He's recorded six or more outs in five appearances, maxing out at four innings in a July 21 outing. Since his signing last month, his 55.3% zone rate is the fifth-highest among those pitchers with at least 20 innings.

"If I come in and we're down a lot of runs, I know that innings have to be covered," Wilson said. "I just go in and do the best I can to cover as many innings to where the next day, we have a much better chance to win because everybody's available and there's more options to go to in the bullpen."

Wilson's strike-throwing and embrace of his role have not gone unnoticed by his manager.

"He's been magnificent. He really has," Pat Murphy said. "It's the epitome of that role, understanding that role. I think of a long snapper. I think of a great punter, a great kicker—somebody [who] just contributes when not too many people are noticing the greatness, and he does his role."

While the game situation in most of his outings has freed Wilson to be even more aggressive in the zone, he also posted zone rates above 50% in each of his previous two seasons with the Brewers. He acknowledged that their emphasis on tunneling different fastball variations within the zone has typically worked best for his unassuming stuff, making Milwaukee a uniquely good fit.

"I think it's just a lot of filling up the zone and just trusting that I can get guys out in-zone," Wilson said. "I'm not necessarily going after chase. Kind of avoid the longer at-bats."

"He just pounds [the zone], but he pounds with command, and that ball is going all different ways," Murphy said. "He's not afraid 2-0 to throw a heater, where in today's game the amount of 2-0 heaters has decreased immensely. He's not afraid to just cut a heater or use a little comeback sinker on a 2-0 count, and he's got that kind of command."

Wilson isn't just throwing strikes with his fastballs. He's throwing quality strikes. Since signing, he's been one of baseball's best command pitchers by Location+, and his stuff is playing better than ever.

In his first two seasons as a Brewer, Wilson's 3.42 ERA masked a less impressive 4.73 xERA, 4.68 FIP, and 4.33 SIERA. This time, he's pitched to a 3.15 ERA, 3.33 xERA, 1.93 FIP, and 2.95 SIERA. Wilson hasn't been a soft-contact specialist, but he's held hitters to a meager 3.1% barrel rate.

That success has come after Wilson returned to what worked best for him before, with a few new wrinkles. Last season, the White Sox tried to help him develop his secondary pitches, including a new changeup reliant on seam-shifted wake (cutting the ball just the right amount, so that the distribution of airflow around the seams pushes the ball down and to the arm side). Wilson lowered his arm slot, which impacted the movement of his fastballs and may have reduced his deception. Most notably, his cutter lost some of the downward and glove-side movement that made it effective.

This season, Wilson has raised his slot slightly, and his pitches are moving as they did during his first stint in Milwaukee. Since rejoining the Brewers, he's also transitioned back toward his old mix, leaning increasingly on his cutter and sinker at the expense of his curveball and a new split-changeup.

His refined command may also stem from improved timing in his delivery. When he was last a Brewer, Wilson lowered his hands toward his lap as he began his windup, which meant he had to bring them back up during his leg kick.

This year, he's eliminated some of that movement by using an over-the-head windup and starting his hands at his chest out of the stretch. Now, when Wilson begins his leg kick, he no longer needs to worry about where his hands are to ensure his arm is on time when his front foot lands.

"Earlier this season, I was kind of having a tough time finding the timing in the break of when the hands separate, and so I was just kind of going through different things and trying to figure out what felt good," Wilson said. "Back when I played with Atlanta, I went over the head and had some success doing it, and so I tried it, and it felt good. The timing felt good, and I just didn't feel like I had to think about it as much. So we just kind of rolled with it."

Wilson's latest tenure in Milwaukee has technically been two stints, as the partnership survived unusual roster math when the club used a six-man rotation over a stretch of 17 games in 17 days. When a 34-pitch outing left him unavailable for a few days, the Brewers designated him for assignment on August 8 to add a fresh arm, in Lyon Richardson. After Wilson cleared waivers and elected free agency, they signed him again on August 11 to replace Richardson, who pitched the night before.

"In my mind, I thought there was a possibility that we could come back," Wilson said. "It was just about seeing it through, and then the timing of it just kind of worked out perfectly to where they needed to make a move, and I had just cleared waivers, so it was just good timing and kind of worked out all around."

As one of the last relievers in the bullpen—particularly one who cannot be optioned to the minor leagues—Wilson's spot on the 40-man roster will never be fully secure. However, he's thrown well enough to help keep the rest of the bullpen reasonably fresh, and the Brewers can add one more reliever to their bullpen as a September call-up next week. If he continues performing, Wilson could stick through the rest of the season.

"He's been great," Murphy said. "He's loved in that locker room."

Do you approve of the job the Brewers' front office is doing?

Do you approve of the job the Brewers' front office is doing?

• Do you approve of the job the Brewers' front office is doing? Required
  

  
• Save

See All Brewers Polls >