Former Cavalier Tyler Wilson makes MLB debut with Baltimore Orioles

Former Virginia right-handed pitcher Tyler Wilson made his Major League Baseball debut Wednesday, pitching the ninth inning for the Baltimore Orioles in their game against the Seattle Mariners in Baltimore at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Wilson pitched a scoreless inning in his debut.

Ironically, Wilson’s first opposing batter was Mariners shortstop Chris Taylor, also a former Virginia player and teammate of Wilson’s in 2010 and 2011.

Wilson is the 36th Virginia baseball player to reach the Major League Baseball level and 12th Cavalier to reach the big leagues after working with the current coaching staff (since 2004).

Counting Wilson, Virginia has eight former players currently at the Major League level. Nine former Cavaliers have been on Major League rosters this season: Kyle Crockett (Cleveland), Sean Doolittle (Oakland), Phil Gosselin (Atlanta), Brandon Guyer (Tampa Bay), Javier Lopez (San Francisco), Mark Reynolds (St. Louis), Taylor and Ryan Zimmerman (Washington).

A 10th-round pick (No. 305 overall) in the 2011 MLB Draft, Wilson currently is in his fifth season of professional baseball and was the Orioles’ 2014 Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Wilson was 2-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 39 1/3 innings this season with the Norfolk Tides, the Orioles’ triple-A affiliate. In 95 career minor league starts, Wilson is 34-28 with a 3.71 ERA and .242 opponent batting average.

While at Virginia from 2008-11, Wilson went 27-7 with a 2.85 ERA. In 249 1/3 innings, he limited opponents to a .211 batting average. He was a second-team All-ACC honoree in 2011 when he went 10-0 with a 2.24 ERA and 124 strikeouts on UVa’s College World Series team.

He still ranks second in career wins (27), fourth in appearances (91) and strikeouts (267) and 11th in innings pitched (249 1/3) in program history.

Wilson also was the 2011 recipient of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award for Baseball, given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in NCAA Division I baseball.

Wilson’s brother, Riley, is a freshman pitcher on the Cavaliers’ 2015 roster. He was at Camden Yards Wednesday along with several family members and friends for his brother’s MLB debut.