PITTSBURGH -- Bryse Wilson is one of several pitchers who has been used in multiple roles. He’s been a starter, he’s been a reliever, he’s oscillated between these two worlds -- never fully one, never fully the other. Following another shaky outing, the best course of action may require limiting the breadth of his responsibilities.

On a muggy, rainy Sunday morning-turned-afternoon at PNC Park, one in which the Pirates were hit hard by the Cardinals, 18-4, a deficit so large that Yadier Molina made his maiden voyage on the mound, Wilson experienced the worst start of his Major League career. In his shortest outing (1 2/3 innings), Wilson surrendered seven runs on six hits with two walks. 

The start was a microcosm of Wilson's difficulties as a starter. The start was also another argument as to why he should relieve full-time, rather than dipping into both ponds. 

“He’s got to command the baseball better,” said manager Derek Shelton. “It’s either off the plate or in the middle of the plate. You can’t pitch in the big leagues effectively if you don’t throw strikes, and then when you do throw strikes, they’re in the middle of the plate.” 

As a starter, Wilson has struggled, and struggled hard. In 15 2/3 innings, he has allowed 21 earned runs. That’s a 12.06 ERA. He has just about as many strikeouts (12) as walks (11). Opponents have a 1.069 OPS. That’s untenable. 

As a reliever, Wilson has performed like a completely different pitcher. In 13 innings, he has allowed just three runs (2.08 ERA). He’s got 12 strikeouts to three walks. Opponents’ OPS is a mere .588. That will play.

“That’s something we’ll look at because we have used him in both roles,” Shelton said. “We have to continue to explore what’s the best fit for him moving forward.”

It’s not as if Wilson is uncomfortable coming out of the bullpen either. After pitching four scoreless innings of relief against the Brewers on April 27, Wilson said that he tries to tap into a reliever’s mentality, regardless of when and how long he pitches. Additionally, Wilson said that as a reliever, he’s better able to go out and attack hitters instead of getting lost in the weeds of strategy.

“I wasn’t able to think about stuff as much, think about my game plan going in as much other than the fact that I wanted to attack,” Wilson said after his relief appearance against Milwaukee.

The Pirates needn’t look any further than their own pitching staff to find success stories.

Wil Crowe led the Pirates in starts last season (25), but struggled by traditional (5.48 ERA) and advanced (5.67 FIP) metrics. This season, as a full-time, multi-inning reliever, Crowe has anchored the bullpen. Across 25 innings, Crowe has a 2.52 ERA and a 3.01 FIP. Strikeouts are up (9.72 K/9), while walks (3.96 BB/9) and home runs (0.36 HR/9) are down. Without question, Crowe is on pace for the best season of his career.

Dillon Peters had been a starter for just about his entire career, but he has transitioned to a reliever/opener role this season. A couple blow-up outings have inflated Peters’ ERA, but on the whole, he’s pitching some of the best baseball of his career. He pitched 16 consecutive innings without allowing a run to open the season, and his 2.91 FIP would be a career-best.

There’s no guarantee that Wilson will thrive like Crowe and Peters if he becomes a full-time reliever. The sample size this season is, admittedly, small. But the sample size is large enough to see that Wilson thrives more often in one role than the other.

Shelton has yet to announce the Pirates' starting rotation for their three-game set against San Diego on May 27-29. Wilson would, hypothetically, be in line to start one of those games in the coming days. Shelton could stay the course and use Wilson as a starter. Or perhaps this start serves as the spark to move Wilson to the bullpen full-time, and subsequently, get the most effective version of him.