Padres face former prospect Matt Wisler Tuesday night
The San Diego Padres had big plans to contend in 2015 and made a plethora of bold offseason moves, one being the signing of James Shields to long-term contract.
San Diego's stance made Matt Wisler expendable before he was moved in one of two blockbuster trades with the Atlanta Braves.
Wisler faces the Padres for the first time when he opposes Shields on Tuesday night at Petco Park.
San Diego (57-62) traded away six of its top 10 prospects in an attempt for an immediate rebuild after missing the playoffs for the eighth straight year in 2014. General manager A.J. Preller hooked up with Atlanta twice in his flurry of deals, first acquiring Justin Upton for prospects Max Fried, Jace Peterson, Dustin Peterson and Mallex Smith in December.
One day before the season started, Preller dealt Wisler - then the club's No. 1 prospect - along with Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin and prospect Jordan Paroubeck to Atlanta for closer Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton on April 5.
Kimbrel allowed a run but earned his 34th save - third-most in the majors - against his former team Monday as the Padres (57-62) won 5-3 for their fifth victory in seven tries. Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, Yonder Alonso and Will Venable had two hits apiece.
Kemp also homered and is batting .385 during a 10-game hitting streak, but San Diego is 10 1/2 games behind NL West-leading Los Angeles as Preller's plan has fallen flat.
Maybin homered for the second straight game and is batting .440 with five extra-base hits during a six-game hitting streak. He's batting .350 in five games against the Padres this season.
"Now, he's doing what he is capable of doing," Jace Peterson told MLB's official website. "It's been a lot of fun to watch."
The rebuilding Braves (53-65) have dropped 16 of 18 on the road and six of eight overall as Wisler (5-2, 4.74 ERA) takes the mound looking to make San Diego feel some regret for trading him.
The right-hander allowed 12 runs in 10 innings over his previous two starts before giving up two in five innings Wednesday, but the bullpen fell apart in a 9-6 loss to Tampa Bay.
Wisler has allowed two runs in three of his last four road starts as he prepares to oppose Shields (8-5, 3.89), who is coming off a rough outing.
The right-hander tied his season high with four walks and gave up five runs in 6 1-3 innings of a 7-3 loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday. He also balked in a run in the third.
Shields surrendered three homers in his previous start, a 4-3 defeat to Philadelphia on Aug. 7, and the Padres have lost his last five outings.
"I have to do my job and go as deep as I can in the game and try to keep the team in the game," Shields said. "Unfortunately it didn't work out."
He gave up five runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 6-5 loss to the Braves on June 9. Nick Markakis had two hits and Andrelton Simmons drove in three runs off Shields in that contest.
