Asked if he saw a little of himself in young Braves starter Matt Wisler, Tom Glavine laughed.
“No, he’s better than I was at his age,” Glavine said Saturday during FanFest at Turner Field.
Wisler, 23, reached out to Glavine late last season, talked about his changeup and pitching in general and threw in front of the Hall of Famer this winter.
“There’s a lot about him that I like in terms of his mechanics and his foundation and things of that nature,” Glavine said. “Having watched him, an off-speed pitch, particularly a change-up to a left-handed hitter, I think, would be really helpful for him. And I know it’s something he felt the same way about it.”
In addition to Wisler’s mechanics, Glavine praised the young right-hander’s eagerness to learn and ask questions.
“You don’t get that a lot with young guys,” Glavine said. “I know I wasn’t like that when I was a younger player, but I had the benefit of being around a lot of veteran players when I got here. I’ve said for a couple years now, these guys really haven’t had that. They’re all young together. They’re all going through their lumps together and haven’t had that veteran presence around them to bounce ideas off of like I did when I got here. Anytime I’m around, I love talking to those guys, but I know it’s hard for a lot of them to work up the courage, so to speak, to come ask questions. But Matt hasn’t been one of those guys. He’s always been forthcoming with questions and trying to learn stuff.”
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