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In last night's series opener against the Atlanta Braves, Erasmo Ramirez tossed seven innings of shutout baseball. With the offensive support of Kevin Kiermaier and the shutout performance of the team's bullpen, the Tampa Bay Rays cruised to a 2-0 victory.
Winners of three consecutive games, including six out of their last eight, the Rays look to complete the two game "sweep" of the Braves in tonight's games at the Trop. The Rays will send Jake Odorizzi to the mound to face off against Braves' rookie Matt Wisler.
First pitch is at 7:10.
<!-- BEGIN WIDGET --><div class="pane sports_data_widget lineup clearfix"><h3>Today's Lineups</h3><div class="lineup"><table cellspacing="0" class="zebra"><thead><tr><th align="left">ATLANTA BRAVES</th><th align="left">TAMPA BAY RAYS</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Michael Bourn - LF</td><td class="td-first td-name">John Jaso - DH</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Cameron Maybin - CF</td><td class="td-first td-name">Grady Sizemore - LF</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Nick Markakis - RF</td><td class="td-first td-name">Evan Longoria - 3B</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">A.J. Pierzynski - C</td><td class="td-first td-name">James Loney - 1B</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Adonis Garcia - 3B</td><td class="td-first td-name">Logan Forsythe - 2B</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Jace Peterson - 2B</td><td class="td-first td-name">Asdrubal Cabrera - SS</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Nick Swisher - DH</td><td class="td-first td-name">Daniel Nava - RF</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Joey Terdoslavich - 1B</td><td class="td-first td-name">Kevin Kiermaier - CF</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Pedro Ciriaco - SS</td><td class="td-first td-name">Curt Casali - C</td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name"></td><td class="td-first td-name"></td></tr><tr><td class="td-last td-name">Matt Wisler - RHP</td><td class="td-first td-name">Jake Odorizzi - RHP</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><!-- END WIDGET -->
The Book on Matt Wisler
Locked and loaded with one of baseball's best farm systems, the recently hired general manager of the San Diego Padres, A.J. Preller, entered the 2014 offseason with the hopes of constructing a playoff contender overnight.
Dealing from the depth of his inherited prospect pipeline, Preller revamped his roster, adding outfielders Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Melvin Upton Jr., and Wil Myers, as well as Craig Kimbrel, Derek Norris, and Will Middlebrooks.
With nearly three-quarters of the season in the books, it has become increasingly clear that the Preller Experiment has been a colossal failure. With less than fifty games remaining on their schedule, the Padres are currently six game under .500 and nine-and-a-half games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
While this season has undoubtedly been a disappointment, it becomes increasingly more disappointing after realizing who the Padres traded. Among the top prospects shipped out of San Diego were Trea Turner, Joe Ross, Max Fried, and tonight's starting pitcher Matt Wisler.
Wisler nearly avoided being traded, but on the eve of Opening Day 2015, Preller shipped his number one prospect to the Atlanta Braves as the centerpiece of the deal that landed the Padres Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr.
Wisler began the 2015 season as the Brave's second ranked prospect and after 12 starts in Triple-A (in which the 22-year-old posted a 4.29 ERA and a 3.31 FIP in 65 innings of work) Wisler was summoned to the Show.
Wisler made his major league debut on June 19 against the New York Mets. In eight innings of work, the right hander tossed eight innings of one-run baseball.
The rookie has started nine games this season, and his performance has been somewhat of a mixed bag. All in all, he has tossed 52 innings at the big league level while posting a 4.85 ERA and a 4.60 FIP.
Matt Wisler's Arsenal in 2015
| PITCH | VELOCITY | FREQUENCY | vs RHH | vs LHH |
| Fourseam | 94 mph |
44.47% vs RHH *** 27.92% vs LHH |
Sporadic, though he hits the middle of the plate often. | Sporadic, though he hits the middle of the plate often. |
| Sinker | 93 mph |
18.75% vs RHH *** 37.06% vs LHH |
Inside, often not in the strike zone. | Outside, often not in the strike zone. |
| Change | 87 mph |
3.37% vs RHH *** 15.48% vs LHH |
Thrown rarely, though often below the knees. | Low and away. |
| Slider | 82 mph |
32.69% vs RHH *** 11.93% vs LHH |
Low and away. | Sporadic. |
| Curve | 77 mph |
0.72% vs RHH *** 7.61% vs LHH |
Rarely thrown. | Sporadic, usually outside of the zone away or below the knees. |
Other Rays' Notes
--A Drew Smyly return appears to be imminent:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sounds like <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rays?src=hash">#Rays</a> were pleased w/ Smyly's rehab outing. He'll travel w/ team to Texas and throw bullpen there Friday, could start Sunday.</p>— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) <a href="https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays/status/631571116969074689">August 12, 2015</a></blockquote>
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