Should Justin Wilson be in the pen?

Just a few days ago, the Pirates announced that AAA Indianapolis pitcher Justin Wilson would be moved to the bullpen for the rest of the season. The organization stressed that the move would be temporary, as they feel his long-term role will be as a starter. The assumption was that Wilson might be able to help the Pirates out of the pen down the stretch, as he is a lefty with a live arm in a system bereft of major-league-ready lefty options.

Then, the Pirates called up Jeff Locke to serve as a long man/emergency option while Kevin Correia temporarily moved back into the rotation. Wilson was therefore left in the Indy Indians rotation for at least one more start. He responded by pitching eight innings of hitless, runless ball in a rain-shortened no hitter. His final line was 8.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO. Here's the kicker: it wasn't the first time he was part of a no-hitter this year. On April 29 of this year, Wilson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up no hits, no runs, walking two and striking out nine batters. For the season, Wilson is 9-5 with a 3.88 ERA and a 2/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Does that sound like a guy who should be moved to the pen?

Well, let's take a look at why the Pirates want to put Wilson in the pen. Despite his healthy K/BB ratio, he walks a lot of batters. Before the most recent no-hitter, Wilson was walking 4.6 batters per nine innings. That's awfully high, but it's in line with his career averages. Wilson has excellent movement on his pitches, but he hasn't been able to control them with any regularity throughout his minor league career. The move to the pen might not help his control (it hasn't in the past), but it does limit the potential damage. A move to the pen helps Wilson in another way, too. He normally sits in the low 90s with his fastball, but in relief he has been regularly clocked in the upper 90s, sometimes hitting 99 on the gun. That's a tremendous weapon that could help the Pirates bullpen in a pennant race.

Some folks think a permanent move to the pen is in the cards for Wilson as he has shown little progress in harnessing his control. The Pirates front office was even shopping him to other teams at the deadline as a future-closer type. One look at what Aroldis Chapman has done this year and it's easy to see why teams would consider Wilson a legitimate back-of-the-bullpen option despite his wildness. Still, most teams would prefer to give a guy with Wilson's stuff every possible chance at starting. His stuff is good enough that he could eventually become a number 2 starter, but he's so erratic at present that he's looking more like a back-of-the-rotation option. My guess is that he is a future closer in the Carlos Marmol mold. I'm sure that doesn't inspire a ton of confidence in Pirates fans, but we're talking about a live arm with great velocity and diabolical movement. I understand why the Pirates want to keep trying him as a starter, but after two seasons of sometimes electric but often erratic pitching at AAA, I'd make the move to the pen permanent.