After losing his spot in the rotation and making one relief appearance, Braves right-hander Matt Wisler is scheduled start against the Mets on Friday.
Wisler went to the bullpen after a series of ineffective starts culminated with an outing of 1 2/3 innings and seven runs allowed against the Nationals on Sept 3. Three days later Wisler pitched two scoreless innings against the Nationals and, he said, regained some confidence.
“I think it was mental,” Wisler said before he was announced as the Friday starter. “My mentality on the mound wasn’t what it needed to be. My mound presence wasn’t very good. I was pitching kind of in fear—fear of failure—instead of just pitching and seeing what happens. Going to the bullpen was a good move.”
The Braves acquired Wisler in a trade with the Padres on the eve of opening day. He was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett in June for his first big-league stint and was effective through July.
But Wisler’s results were spotty during six August starts. He had three outings that month in which he allowed five or more runs and just one appearance longer than five innings. Then he couldn’t get out of the second inning against the Nationals in his last start while allowing five hits and walking three batters.
Wisler said he was “losing a little confidence” with each poor start but said the successful relief appearance gave him a boost.
“Just attacking hitters again and getting after it,” he said. “Not thinking about anything except getting outs and just really attacking the glove.”
Scheduled to follow Wisler in the rotation are Williams Perez, Ryan Weber, Julio Teheran and Shelby Miller.
