5 Things to Watch For During Atlanta Braves Spring Training

Does Matt Wisler Take the Next Step Up?

Starter Matt Wisler has been concerned about his changeup.  Others have noticed, including both pitching coach Roger McDowell and Hall of Famer Tom Glavine.  Glavine, of course, made a nice living with a changeup that hitters could not resist trying to hit.

Mark Bowman reports that Wisler and Glavine have connected on a couple of occasions this off-season, with what sounds like an emphasis on the youngster’s confidence in throwing the pitch as much as anything.  Trusting his motion and the pitch itself could be key in ‘selling’ it to hitters.

Wisler didn’t throw the changeup very much last year… and he admits that even when he threw it, it didn’t help him much as batters could simply ignore it since he tended to throw it out of the strike zone.

From BrooksBaseball.net, here are the charts to prove that:

The good news

?  He kept the ball down, and therefore out of any real danger areas.

The bad news?  It was hardly ever a strike… maybe 10% of the time for a pitch he only threw 10% of the time.

So now the question will be whether Wisler can use this to step up and join – for real – the top half of the rotation.

At this point, we don’t even know who the ‘five’ are likely to be… most probably Julio Teheran, Wisler, then three from an assortment of candidates:  Williams Perez, Ryan Weber, plus veterans Bud Norris and Kyle Kendrick among them.

Mike Foltynewicz is probably not a candidate to start yet – he is still recovering from his serious health bouts at the end of last year.  Manny Banuelos could be, but he’s also just as likely to continue refining himself at Gwinnett.  Others are knocking at the door.

So the Braves’ need Matt Wisler.  So far, it appears he’s done the right things to work on his game – not being satisfied with less than adequate offerings.  The proof will be in whether that work translates to game situations.

Next: Neck Good, Swing Better?