Wilson gets his chance to start for Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS – Jake Mauer was asked Monday afternoon to give his starting pitching rotation for the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

'We'll go with Mat Batts on opening night,” the manager responded. 'Then, let's see …”

Mauer thought for a couple of seconds before ticking off the names of John Curtiss, Stephen Gonsalves, Michael Cederoth, Felix Jorge and Zach Tillery. There were no surprises there.

The skipper was then asked about his bullpen, specifically who he might count on at the end of games, with Jared Wilson's name specifically brought up.

It seemed to make a lot of sense that Wilson might be in line to close. He's got a good arm, struck out nearly a batter per inning and had a fine 2.95 earned run average in 32 relief appearances in 2014.

But Mauer revealed it's beginning, not ending games that are in Wilson's immediate future. The parent Minnesota Twins are converting the 24-year-old Californian to a starter's role.

He'll be fit in somewhere in what looks like a crowded rotation to begin the Midwest League season.

'He's a guy that's got three pitches, and his changeup has really come on,” Mauer said. 'They brought him here to stretch him out and start him a little bit.”

That's despite not being a starting pitcher since his first half-season of junior college baseball five years ago. Wilson was a bullpen guy at the University of California-Santa Barbara, one that got drafted both after his junior and senior seasons by the Twins.

He signed in 2013 after being taken in the 19th round by Minnesota.

'They called me in the offseason,” Wilson said. 'The meetings at the end of last year, we kind of discussed it a little bit, too. So I knew it might be an option. In spring training, they started stretching me out.”

Wilson said he threw as many as 80 pitches in an outing during spring training, so he's ready for whatever is thrown at him. He said Ivan Arteaga, last year's Kernels pitching coach, kept telling him he had an ability to start, with the two working hard the second half of last season on the right-hander's changeup.

Starters need more than two pitches to have a chance. Wilson also throws a curveball and low-90s fastball.

'I'm excited for the new (role),” Wilson said. 'I'm fortunate. They've been helping me develop a changeup a lot. That was kind of my big pitch last year. I think because of that pitch, it's giving me an opportunity to start. Now that I have a three-pitch mix. I'm still working on command, obviously, with that. But, yeah, I am really excited about the opportunity I'm being given.”

The Kernels had their annual 'Meet The Kernels” promotion Tuesday night at a chilly Veterans Memorial Stadium and had a short workout. They open the season Thursday night at 6:35 at Kane County.

The home opener is 4:05 Sunday afternoon against Beloit. That is the first of a six-game homestand, with three games against Beloit and three against Peoria.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com