Justin Wilson

Wilson joined the Mets on a two-year contract in 2019 and served as a setup man and occasional closer, notching nine holds and four saves. The southpaw posted his lowest ERA (2.54) since 2013, though the mark was starkly contrasted by a career-worst 3.90 FIP. The discrepancy was largely due to Wilson's unsustainable 86.8 LOB% that exceeded his previous three-year rate by over 10 percentage points. Aside from the left-on-base stats, Wilson's 2019 campaign was similar to recent seasons and illustrative of a pitcher who struggles with walks (11.4 BB%) but racks up strikeouts (26.5 K%). Wilson also continued to limit hard contact, holding hitters to a feeble 84.7 mph average exit velocity. Elbow soreness limited Wilson to 39 innings in 2019, but he's expected to be used in high-leverage situations again this season and could be a decent source of holds and an occasional save, though ERA regression is likely.

On Sept. 22, Wilson was sitting pretty with a 2.93 ERA. After his final two appearances, his ERA ballooned to 3.46. Truth be told, until that point, he was outpitching his peripherals, as suggested by a high 1.35 WHIP. The final two outings merely brought his ERA in line with its estimators -- funny how that so often happens. A high WHIP is nothing new for Wilson as he sports an 11% career walk rate, posting a 14% mark the past two seasons. He compensates with a K% hovering near 30% the past two campaigns. He also keeps the ball in the yard, as evidenced by his 0.66 HR/9. The southpaw totes reverse splits (career .280 vs. RHB, .296 vs. LHB) that have been more exaggerated in recent seasons. With his control woes, Wilson is best suited in a late-inning setup role, but can close in a pinch.

We hear the narrative of having a setup man close to build up trade value all the time, and the Tigers pulled it off with Wilson. After tiring of Francisco Rodriguez in early May, Detroit elevated the fireballing southpaw to the ninth inning, where he racked up a dozen saves to add onto the one he recorded in early April. At the trade deadline, he was shipped to the Cubs as part of the deal that brought Jeimer Candelario to Motown. You wouldn't know Wilson throws left-handed by his splits, as he's much more effective versus righty swingers, which is odd since he's mostly a fastball-cutter pitcher, without a typical pitch to handle righties. He makes it work, parlaying a 96-mph heater into a 25 percent strikeout rate versus lefties and 26 percent mark with a righty in the box. Despite struggling with the Cubs, registering a 5.10 ERA and 2.10 WHIP with 25 strikeouts and a bloated 19 walks in 17.2 innings, Wilson enters 2018 as a key bullpen cog in Chicago, who should be in play for holds.

Wilson regressed slightly in his fourth full major league season after being traded to the Tigers, yielding a 4.14 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. He was used in a similar role, making a lot of middle and late-inning appearances, and picked up 25 holds. Wilson continued to post a high strikeout rate, fanning 65 batters over 58.2 innings. Opponents hit .307 off his mid-90s fastball, so he threw a lot more cutters in 2016 after throwing 80 percent fastballs in 2015. With opponents' .340 BABIP and an uptick in HR/FB to 12.2 percent, Wilson probably suffered from some poor luck in 2016. If so, we can expect him to regress back towards his 3.10 ERA and 1.13 WHIP numbers from 2015. The Tigers re-signed veteran closer Francisco Rodriguez, so Wilson should slide into a similar role in 2016 unless Rodriguez slips up or he gets traded. Wilson's value will most likely come from being a relatively high-strikeout reliever who gets holds.

Wilson quickly slotted into a late-inning role in his first year with the Yankees, posting career best marks of 9.7 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, and a 2.69 FIP. The lefty has always been able to get out both lefties and righties, and was once again more effective against opposite-handed hitters in 2015, holding righties to a .216/.275/.318 line against. The 28-year-old was actually unlucky to not have an even better season than he did, as he suffered from a career-worst .305 BABIP. If that number comes back down in 2016, he could put up numbers more similar to his breakout 2013 campaign when he worked to a 2.08 ERA in 73.2 innings. Traded to Detroit in the offseason, Wilson will likely be inserted into a high-leverage role and could help out in formats that value holds.

A repeat of Wilson's outstanding 2013 campaign was never realistic, as he benefited greatly from a .229 BABIP and 84.9% strand rate, but the southpaw's surface numbers declined a bit more than most expected. His ERA more than doubled to 4.20, and lefties hit a combined .253/.314/.367 against him, up from .200/.266/.235 a year before. The 27-year-old's walk rate jumped, from 3.4 BB/9 to 4.5 BB/9, but so did his strikeout rate, by an even two per nine innings no less (from 7.2 K/9 to 9.2 K/9) and his xFIP only increased by a mere six points. Wilson also maintained a groundball rate above 50 percent (51.3%), and he held opposing batters to just a .209 average after the All-Star break. Now a member of the Yankees following a November trade, Wilson figures to slot in as a late-inning lefty out of the bullpen, making him of some interest to those in leagues that count holds.

Wilson exceeded expectations in 2013, going 6-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 73.2 innings. The 26-year-old southpaw threw a heavy 95.3 mph average fastball, but finished with just a 7.2 K/9 rate. His 59:28 K:BB rate shows his penchant for losing the strike zone at times, but a 3.4 BB/9 rate marked the first time he's been lower than 4.0 BB/9 in six pro seasons. Despite being a two-pitch pitcher, Wilson mostly started in the minors -- he struck out 138 in 135 Triple-A innings in 2012. There's always a chance Pittsburgh could try him again in the rotation. File that away, and also remember that he totaled only 6.2 innings in September, indicating that he was fatigued from a heavy early-season workload, or was dealing with some sort of injury.

Wilson, 24, pitched at Triple-A Indianapolis for the second consecutive season, improving both his ERA (4.13 to 3.78) and WHIP (1.51 to 1.16). He's got a deadly fastball (averaging 93.9 mph) and pitched in parts of two no-hitters for his club. General manager Neal Huntington saw fit to move him back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen in 2012, making his long-term role uncertain. Until Wilson improves his control -- he's got a career 4.5 BB/9 rate -- he represents a bit of a wild card. He'll fight for an Opening Day roster spot, but is more likely to make his season debut in Pittsburgh sometime during summer.