NFL
By: Michelle Bir
Things were looking up for Matt Wisler after his season-high 9 strike outs against the Cleveland Indians to close out the month of June in which he allowed 20 runs over his last 27 1/3 innings. Wisler was struggling with a 3-7 record with a 4.14 ERA in 15 starts before the start of the Fort Bragg game against the Marlins on July 3rd. Could the matchup against the Marlins prove that he is on a consistent uphill trend?
Wisler started strong primarily pitching effective 80-84 mph sliders, by the bottom of the second he threw a total of 29 pitches, 20 of them were strikes. At the top of the fourth Wisler missed 4 sliders to walk Derek Dietrich and by the 5th inning the bottom fell out. Adelny Hechavarria triples on the first pitch of the 5th inning on a 91 mph 4-seam fastball. JT Realmuto singles on a 82 mph slider to center field, bringing Hechavarria across the plate. Prado singles on a 92 mph 4-seam fastball. We are still in the 5th, folks. Finally, Yelich singles on a 84 mph slider to bring Realmuto in. Wisler stays in until the 6th and gets a lot of defensive help. In all, he pitched 103 total pitches, 73 strikes and 30 balls.
In a season full of highs and lows for the 23-year-old, with not a whole lot in the way of back up in the bullpen, he appears to be regressing from his strong start. The Braves, who don’t have much in the way of offense, have to rely on a solid bullpen they just don’t have.
In an interview with David O’Brien, Wisler states, “I think I’ve done a good job of focusing every time I go out there, that’s really my goal is to make sure that I don’t take any games off, take any pitches off. Just try to go out there every game and see what I’ve got.”
Well Matt, what did you have in the 5th, because I saw a lot of caving.
