Eli Wilson
Eli Wilson
Position: C
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 190 lbs
Bats/Throws: R/R
Born: 07/06/1998
College: University of Minnesota
How Acquired: Draft 16th round, 484th Overall, 2019
Bonus: $125,000
40-man Roster: No
Rule 5 Eligible: Yes
Minor League Free Agency: 2025
Options Left: 3
Overview
Wilson’s father, Dan, caught in the majors for 14 years. Eli played short and ran cross country in high school, then moved to catcher in college. Baseball America referred to him as improving but a “work in progress” defensively, with an average arm. He’s athletic and runs well. He was the best overall hitter on a Minnesota team that appears to have played in a low-offense environment. As a junior he hit 294/382/453, with just an OK BB:K ratio of 25:45. That was a slight improvement over his sophomore line of 289/379/428. BA rated him the second best draft prospect in Minnesota, which as a far northern state obviously isn’t a baseball hotbed, and 385th overall in the draft class.
2019-20
Wilson was the regular catcher at Bristol, showing good athleticism behind the plate and throwing out 39% of base stealers. He just held his own at the plate, batting 234/356/366, with good patience. He didn’t play in 2020.
2021-22
When Wilson joined the Pirates, they had a dearth of catching prospects, but by 2021 that had changed markedly and Wilson often had to struggle for playing time. He opened the 2021 season at Bradenton as the backup to Endy Rodriguez. In the early going, though, he was the team’s best hitter and hit his way into a shared role behind the plate. By the beginning of August he was batting 328/480/474 and got a promotion to Greensboro. There, he shared time with Blake Sabol. Wilson also caught the last game of Indianapolis’ season. On the season overall he threw out 20% of base stealers.
To open 2022, Wilson was in a tough spot at Greensboro, as the Pirates had Henry Davis, Rodriguez and Abrahan Gutierrez there at the beginning of the season. His meager playing time increased from just 22 plate appearances in April to a still-paltry 37 in July. He hit respectably after a 2-for-19 start in April, posting an OPS from .716 to .766 in the next three months. Finally, with Davis and Rodriguez both gone, he got to play semi-regularly and put up 312/368/475 line in August, although he followed that by going 1-for-23 in September. Wilson started just 22 games behind the plate, none before late June. Prior to then he mostly played third, where he hadn’t played before, even in college. When he caught he did well, throwing out 31% of base stealers. He had a huge home road split, with an OPS of .848 at home and .548 on the road, so the Greensboro ballpark probably aided him.
2023-24
Wilson went back to Greensboro in 2023, then moved up to Altoona at the end of July. He didn’t get a lot of playing time, just 37 games for the Hoppers and 18 for the Curve, nearly all of it behind the plate. He threw out 27% of base stealers overall. Wilson hit well, with a .769 OPS for Greensboro and .740 for Altoona.
In 2024, Wilson served as a fill-in player, getting into 25 games with Altoona, and four each with Indianapolis and Bradenton. He spent a little over a month on the injured list. Wilson got only 95 plate appearances on the year and had a .598 OPS. He started only 17 games total behind the plate.
Stats
Transactions
June 11, 2016: Drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 37th round, 1107th overall pick.
June 5, 2019: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 16th round, 484th overall pick; signed on June 12.