Matt Wisler gets a start Sunday against the Tigers in Lakeland, and suddenly the Braves right-hander might also have a little better chance of making the opening-day roster.
There is an opening in the starting rotation after Luiz Gohara sprained an ankle Friday, the second injury in three weeks for the big lefty. Gohara was make his first spring Sunday and Wisler was to follow him in relief, but Wisler now will get the start, manager Brian Snitker said.
Veteran Brandon McCarthy was scheduled to start Sunday, but Snitker said earlier Friday that Gohara would replace him and McCarthy would instead pitch in a simulated game back at Braves camp with Tyler Flowers catching. That was before Gohara turned his ankle in a Friday afternoon pitcher’s fielding drill.
McCarthy already pitched 6 2/3 sharp innings in his first two starts and will use a simulated game to work on his slider rather than pitching in a Grapefruit League game.
“It’s that time (of spring) that if these guys need to work on things, we can kind of create a situation (game conditions),” Snitker said. “It doesn’t matter who he pitches against as long as he throws pitches. If he wants to work on stuff he can, and have Tyler go back there and catch him, work with him. And it’s good for (Flowers), too. He can go back there and hit every inning if he wants, just to get the at-bats.”
The Braves plan to open the season with Julio Teheran starting opening day, followed by Mike Foltynewicz and McCarthy. Those three were the only rotation certainties entering spring training, though Gohara was a clear favorite for the fourth spot before his injuries.
While Sean Newcomb now the front-runner for the fourth spot, the fifth spot is up for grabs with candidates ranging from veteran Scott Kazmir, whose fastball has been clocked at just 88-90 mph so far this spring, to rookie lefty Max Fried, whom the team would ideally like to get more time in Triple-A before he’s brought up.
Wisler, Aaron Blair and Lucas Sims, former prospects whose stock has ebbed to varying degrees, are also candidates for the fifth rotation spot or a hybrid role as long reliever/spot starter.
The Braves are still evaluating other relievers, including Rule 5 pick Anyelo Gomez and Shane Carle. Snitker also mentioned Josh Ravin, although he was removed from the 40-man roster this week and outrighted to Triple-A.
“When the 25-man (roster deadline) comes we’ve got to make a decision on a Rule 5 guy,” Snitker said. “Keep running him out there and guys like Ravin and Carle, guys we’re not real familiar with, watching them continue to pitch. Wisler, Blair, see where they’re at.”
Gomez has a 1.69 ERA in five appearances and had no walks until Friday night when he walked the first two batters of the seventh inning of a tied game against the Yankees. He got out of the jam in impressive fashion with a fly-out and consecutive strikeouts to end the inning, and the Braves scored twice in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-1 win.
“For a lot of those guys it’s what we’re going to see here,” Snitker said of the final roster decisions. “You don’t want to use spring training (to determine spots) but a lot of these guys, I tell them, you don’t have big baseball cards (long statistical track records), so you’re going to have to show something here for us to trust you, to put you on the team.”
