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Matt Wisler Makes Petco Park Debut – For the Braves

By Daryll Dorman

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Matt Wisler absolutely expected to make a start at Petco Park this season – he just expected to do it as a member of the San Diego Padres. All that changed however when he was traded to the Atlanta Braves along with Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin for Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr.on the eve of the 2015 baseball season.

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Wisler you will recall was drafted by the Padres in the 7th round of the 2011 draft and rose quickly through the minor league ranks. In 2014 he was the #44 ranked prospect by Baseball America and rose to #34 prior to the 2015 season. He was seen as one of the Big Three prospects the Padres did not want to move in the off-season (along with Austin Hedges and Hunter Renfroe) and Preller held off all winter long…until he had to figure out a way to dump some outfielders and salary. The possibility to get the most dominating closer in baseball with it he just felt like he couldn’t pass up.

We know the rest of the story from there. Cameron Maybin has been the outfielder the Padres always thought he could be but he never was for the Friars, hitting .280 with 10 HR, 18 SB’s, and displaying dazzling defense in center field. Quentin was released, then he just retired. It’s strange to think how much thought went into where he might fit in the Padres plans for 2015 as everyone knew it was a broken body just trying to play through a bad contract. Melvin Upton Jr.despite the name change hasn’t done anything to show that the Braves assessment of his bad free agent contract was incorrect. Kimbrel has been great, though not as great as in the past according to his own standards, but did close out the game for the Padres in Game 1 last night.

Which leaves us to looking at Matt Wisler. In 12 starts in AAA for the Braves he went 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA and struck out 49 in 65 innings before getting the call. His first start in the majors on June 13 was probably his best yet – going 8 innings and allowing 1 run. He left the game losing 1-0 before fellow former Padres prospect Jace Peterson provided an RBI double driving in Cameron Maybin of course and the Braves won 2-1. He currently stands at 5-2 with a 4.74 ERA in 10 starts with the Braves. Of late he appears to be tiring some, failing to get in a 6 inning start or a win since July 26th against St. Louis.

The Padres send James Shields to the mound tonight and look to secure a series victory and a nice offensive night last night gave them the win.

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