Charlie GoldsmithCincinnati Enquirer
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On March 8, before Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell knew the Reds were going to get the chance to sign reliever Justin Wilson, Bell sent Wilson a text.
At the time, Wilson was in spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers, trying to complete an unlikely comeback. Wilson pitched for the Reds in 2022, injured his elbow in April and needed Tommy John surgery. He signed with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2023 and suffered a season-ending lat injury while warming up in the bullpen for his season debut.
On that night in March, Wilson pitched a perfect inning for the Dodgers in a spring training game against the Reds. Bell was so excited to see Wilson back healthy that he texted him, “You looked great.”
Bell and Wilson had stayed in touch as the 36-year-old left-hander made his comeback. Wilson ended up not making the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster, and he had options when he hit the free agent market.
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Wilson signed with the Reds. He made the Opening Day roster and has made 20 appearances out of the bullpen so far this season. His latest outing was the type of moment that Wilson dreamed of when a return to the big leagues looked unlikely.
On Saturday, with Reds closer Alexis Díaz unavailable, Wilson earned his first save since 2019. He entered the game with one out and two runners on base in the top of the ninth inning, and he got back-to-back outs to end it in a 4-3 win for the Reds over the Chicago Cubs.
“I love it here,” Wilson said. “I really do. I believe we can win. I believe we can play like we’re playing right now. We’re trying to do everything right to achieve the end goal, which is a World Series. People are putting a lot of work in to achieve that. It’s really special.”
It was far from a guarantee that Wilson would ever get another chance like this one. After he suffered a devastating elbow injury while pitching for the Reds in April of 2022, Wilson considered retiring.
He kept going back, “I wasn’t going to go out like that.”
Wilson attempted his comeback with the Brewers last season, but he didn’t make it back onto the big league mound. Last July, he suffered an injury on the final warmup pitch he threw in the bullpen on what was supposed to be his season debut.
Again, Wilson’s career could have been over. But he wasn’t going out like that, either.
“I’m just so happy for him to be (back) competing like that,” Bell said on Saturday. “Being at the top of his game. He’s very comfortable in that situation. He has been in a lot of big spots in his career. It brought the best out of him there. I couldn’t be happier. He deserves it.”
During the offseason heading into this year, Wilson had to try out for teams. He invited several teams to watch him throw a bullpen at a workout facility in Texas, and the Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal.
Wilson had a strong spring, and his performance against the Reds proved what he was capable of heading into his 12th year in MLB.
“He looked so good out there,” Bell said. “His body (looked great), and he had great stuff. I was just so happy for him. When he left here, he was a great teammate. He stayed in touch with me a bit. It was a perfect fit. Even if we didn’t know him, just the way he pitched would have made it a strong consideration.”
One week later, at the Reds’ spring training complex, Díaz walked from the dining room into the clubhouse and thought that he saw a familiar face. He asked a few people, “Is that Justin Wilson?”
Wilson was the veteran in the Reds’ bullpen during Díaz’s first month in MLB, and Diaz was excited to see Wilson back.
During Wilson’s long big league career, he has gained a reputation as a serious, focused reliever. He has brought those qualities into the Reds’ bullpen in 2024.
“He sets the standard for everyone,” Reds reliever Fernando Cruz said. “It’s unbelievable. He’s in the best shape of his life. He’s healthy. He’s capable of coming back from those injuries. Doing what he’s doing, he sets the standard way too high for everyone else.”
When the Reds signed Wilson in March, there wasn’t even a clear available spot in the bullpen. At the time, reliever Sam Moll was expected to be ready for the start of the season after dealing with a minor shoulder issue, and eight spots in the bullpen were accounted for.
The front office still took the opportunity to sign Wilson, even though the move set up a roster crunch.
That roster crunch came to fruition in early May when the Reds’ bullpen got nearly all the way to full strength. The Reds’ options were designating Wilson for assignment or optioning Moll to Triple-A. Even though Moll was pitching well, the Reds optioned him so they could hold onto Wilson.
That decision paid off on Saturday as Wilson shut the door against the Cubs.
“We joke around, trying to ask him, ‘How does he do it?’” said Moll, who’s back on the big league roster and pitched a scoreless seventh inning on Saturday. “How does he overcome all of that, come here and throw like that? That’s something I aspire to do. It’s cool to see, especially at 36. It’s impressive, and it’s certainly something we need.”
Wilson entered Saturday’s game with a 6.23 ERA, but most of that damage took place when he allowed four runs in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in early May. Bell has used Wilson as a middle reliever when a lot of left-handed hitters are coming up in the opposing team’s lineup, and Wilson entered the game in one of those situations on Saturday.
The difference was that this appearance was in the ninth inning. Díaz had pitched in consecutive games. Reliever Lucas Sims got the save opportunity at the start of the ninth inning, but he allowed two runners to reach base with one out in the inning.
Bell turned to Wilson to face Cubs switch-hitter Ian Happ, who hits right-handed pitching much better than left-handed pitching, and Cubs left-handed hitting outfielder Mike Tauchman.
Wilson’s appearance out of the bullpen was a reminder that it takes all 26 players on the roster to maintain a long winning streak. He got Happ to hit a weak pop fly into foul territory, and Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson made a sliding catch near the Reds' dugout to record the second out of the inning. Then, Wilson got Tauchman to ground out to first base to end the game.
Wilson’s final two pitches of the game were 98 mph. They were the hardest pitches that he had thrown since 2017.
“I’m just fired up,” Wilson said. “It’s been coming with my health. I’ve thrown hard in the past. Over the course of the Tommy John surgery rehab, it’s taken me a while to get back. I just needed innings to build back up. Now, it’s feeling good.”
