JOSH WILSON

3/26/81; '99 3rd (Florida); Mt. Lebanon, PA (HS)
R/R; 6-0, 161

Level	BA	OBP	SA	AB	2B	3B	HR	BB	K	SB	CS
1999 R (Fla)	.266	.352	.350	203	9	4	0	24	36	14	2
2000 A (Fla)	.269	.316	.423	52	3	1	1	3	14	0	0
2000 A- (Fla)	.344	.418	.475	259	13	6	3	29	47	9	8
2001 A (Fla)	.285	.325	.383	506	28	5	4	28	60	17	11
2002 AA (Fla)	.341	.372	.561	41	3	0	2	2	6	0	1
2002 A+ (Fla)	.256	.318	.387	398	17	1	11	28	67	7	10
2003 AA (Fla)	.253	.294	.371	434	30	6	3	27	70	6	5
2004 AAA (Fla)	.279	.337	.408	240	12	2	5	19	51	6	1
2004 AA (Fla)	.315	.396	.486	311	21	1	10	42	50	8	4
2005 NL (Fla)	.100	.182	.200	10	1	0	0	0	4	0	0
2005 AAA (Fla)	.257	.323	.435	526	31	6	17	48	114	17	7
2006 AAA (Col)	.307	.376	.475	335	18	4	10	37	41	15	4
2007 NL (Wash)	.053	.280	.053	19	0	0	0	5	6	0	0
2007 AL (TB)	.251	.291	.354	263	15	3	2	12	51	6	2

The Pirates claimed Wilson, who is no relation to Jack Wilson, off waivers from Tampa Bay. Aside from being from Mt. Lebanon, Wilson is the son of Duquesne's head baseball coach, so he has plenty of the local connections that some Pirate fans find enthralling. The Pirates gave him a shot at winning a utility infield job for 2008, but he had a weak spring and lost out to Luis Rivas.

Wilson started off well in the Florida system after he was drafted, but ran into problems once he reached full season ball due to an unwillingness to take pitches. According to Baseball America, he also resisted his coaches' advice about altering his swing and wasn't willing to lift weights. He eventually rebounded in AA, starting to draw a lot more walks and show a little power, but he hasn't yet gotten acclimated to major league pitching. Being very skinny, he isn't expected to hit for more than gap power in the long run. He has good range in the field but is very error-prone: he posted miserable fielding percentages of .940 at SS and .949 at 2B in 2007. He's also played some at 3B.

The Pirates designated Wilson for assignment in late March. He cleared waivers and will open 2008 at Indianapolis.

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