Wilson

PAWTUCKET — Jason Bay made his Red Sox debut Friday night to a standing ovation.

Josh Wilson hopes to have a similar ovation when he joins the PawSox lineup this afternoon.

Wilson was acquired by the Boston Red Sox from the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday and he has been designated for assignment to Pawtucket.

Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson is excited to have Wilson in the clubhouse. He said that Wilson will start today at shortstop.

“He’s a guy who has got some major-league time at shortstop,” Johnson said. “He’s a middle infield guy. Obviously, anytime you have the opportunity to add depth at this time of year is a good deal.”

Johnson should be excited. Wilson was having a solid season playing for Indianapolis, Pittsburgh’s Triple-A team, before the Red Sox signed him yesterday.

Wilson, 27, was hitting .276 in 97 games (81-for-293) with 18 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs, 32 RBI, and 11 stolen bases for Indianapolis.

“I’m excited about him,” Johnson said. “We’ve been in the position where we’ve had to play a lot of guys in a lot of games, especially [third baseman Keith] Ginter. Last week when [second baseman] Joe Thurston went down for three days, all of a sudden it became very evident that we didn’t have a lot of depth…so anytime you have a chance to pick up a guy with good experience at [the shortstop position], you have to do it. They did and we’re excited about it.”

Wilson, who is 6-foot-1 and weighs 170 pounds, played 51 games at shortstop, 38 at second base, 3 at third base, and one in the outfield this season with Indianapolis, making a total of 11 errors.

“He’ll be playing a lot of short but we can use him in different spots,” Johnson said. “He gives us some different options.”

Wilson was originally drafted by Florida in the third round in 1999 after graduating Mt. Lebanon High School (Pa.) where he earned second team All-USA Today honors as a senior for hitting .600 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI.

He began his professional career with the Gulf Coast Marlins in 1999 and posted a .352 on-base percentage.

He was selected to play in the New York-Penn League All-Star game in 2000 while playing for Utica, and the Southern League All-Star game in 2003 while playing for Carolina.

Wilson made his major-league debut for the Florida Marlins in 2005 and he batted .100 in 11 games.

After signing with the Colorado Rockies organization on Jan. 1, 2006, Wilson was designated to Triple-A Colorado Springs of the Pacific Coast League, where he spent the season. He batted .307 in 89 games with Colorado Springs with 10 home runs and 45 RBI before having a short stint with the Washington Nationals in 2007 (batted .053 in 15 games).

He was claimed off of waivers by Tampa Bay on May 11, 2007, and started at third base for the Rays where he played on a consistent basis.

Wilson hit .251 in 90 games for Tampa Bay last year, with 2 home runs and 24 RBI.

The addition of Wilson gives the PawSox 23 active players. They are still one player under the roster limit, although Sandy Madera is eligible to come off the disabled list tomorrow.

roblee@projo.com