Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning during the regular season you’ll get a fresh, topical story to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
On June 1, holding a 4–3 lead in the 11th inning at Texas, Rays manager Kevin Cash asked righthander Matt Wisler to close the game. Wisler, 29, is a former failed starter who was traded, waived or designated for assignment seven times in seven years before landing with Tampa Bay last season. He is a different pitcher from most of those travels, and he showed why in pitching a 1-2-3 inning to lock down the save.