Atlanta Braves Calling Up A Top Prospect

The rumors and speculations have continued since Wednesday afternoon about who the Atlanta Braves will call up for Friday evenings start.  As the picture continues to sharpen, we now have an almost certain idea of who will pitch for the Braves on Friday….it will be Atlanta’s #2 rated prospect, Matt Wisler.

The 22-year-old has been pitching with the Gwinnett Braves all season and has 12 starts. He’s 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA and 1.246 WHIP.  Wisler has 49 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched.  What’s most impressive and something Fredi Gonzalez is probably jumping backwards about is that he only has 13 walks all season.

Wisler will make his debut against the New York Mets at Turner Field.  The game will start at 7:35pm ET.

I’m extremely excited about this call up and think Wisler will do very well.  Though he is a young talent and may still need time to develop, I’m hoping he can learn (and learn quickly) from his struggles at the major league level.

In mid-May he received the International League pitcher of the week when he had a 1.35 ERA, one walk, nine strikeouts and two wins for Gwinnett.

His starts in June?  They haven’t been so hot.  Especially his last start on June 12.  He’s started two games in June and only pitched 9.2 innings (3.2 in his last start) while giving up 14 hits and nine runs.  Wisler’s last opponent was the top team in Triple-A, the Indianapolis Indians.

How did the Braves acquire Wisler?

The Braves traded Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton to the San Diego Padres for Wisler, Cameron Maybin, Jordan Paroubeck, the 41st pick in the 2015 draft (Austin Riley) – and Carlos Quentin, but he was quickly released.

I had the opportunity to see Wisler pitch against the Charlotte Knights earlier this season.  In the video below, (it’s from his bullpen sessions prior to the game) you can take a look at his mechanics.

Matt Wisler from Jeff Schafer on Vimeo.