Backtrack to April 5th of this year, the San Diego Padres acquired Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr. from the Atlanta Braves. One of the biggest players the Braves got in return from this trade was highly touted prospect Matt Wisler. The 22 year old righty is rated the #59 prospect in baseball and the #2 prospect in the Braves organization according to MLB.com.
On Friday night it was Wisler’s turn to make his debut in a very young Braves rotation that had already seen the debut of other starters like Williams Perez and Mike Foltynewicz. In 12 starts, Wisler had a 3-4 record with a 4.29 ERA with the Gwinnett Braves in AAA. Not only was this an important start for Wisler, but it was also a very important game for the Braves as they faced the division leading New York Mets.
It did not take Wisler a long time to record his first strikeout as Mets lead-off hitter Curtis Granderson struck out swinging at a breaking ball. Wisler’s fastball sat around the mid 90’s throughout the game and he also featured a very decent curve ball.
The only blemish that Matt Wisler had all night came in the top of the sixth inning when Michael Cuddyer hit an RBI single scoring Ruben Tejada who had previously hit a double giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.
It was until the bottom of the 8th inning when the Braves were able to rally. Andrelton Simmons began the inning hitting a double into left center field. After a sac bunt by Eury Perez that advanced Simmons to third base, the key play of the game was the at-bat by Pedro Ciriaco. With the Mets infield in and only one out in the inning, Ciriaco hit a bouncing ground ball to short stop Wilmer Flores, who held the ball too long and permitted Ciriaco to beat the throw to first base.
With runners on the corners and only one out, it was rookie Jace Peterson who came through with a clutch two run double over the head of center fielder Juan Lagares and gave the Braves a 2-1 lead. After that hit, Wisler was finally in line to get the win.
The Braves turned the 9th inning to closer Jason Grilli as he went on to strikeout two batters and earn his 19th save of the season.
Matt Wisler’s final line was: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K, and 66 strikes on 88 pitches.
Wisler only had two strikeouts, which interestingly enough were the first and the last batters he faced in the game. A truly amazing debut which drew some comparisons with Braves legend John Smoltz.