Game one of the Wild Card Series will be decided tonight between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres.
Michael King will be facing the mound for the Padres. King never pitched more than 104.2 innings in a season, although he did show promise as a Yankee, finishing with a 3.38 ERA in five seasons. appeared as a legitimate force this year. With 173.2 innings pitched, he had a 3.19 SO/W ratio, 1.192 WHIP, 3.33 FIP, and 2.95 ERA.
King’s predicted ERA, according to Statcast, is 3.54, which is a little higher than average but still excellent enough to rank among the top 31.0 percent of eligible players. The Braves’ one area of concern is that his average exit velocity of 85.7 mph is among the top 1.0 percent in Major League Baseball. As far as we know, hard hit balls seem to be the Braves’ lifeblood.
In July, the Braves defeated the Padres two games to one, although they did not play King in those three contests. On August 16, 2023, he did take the field against the Braves for three innings as a Yankees reliever. In his 3.2 innings of relief, he gave up three strikeouts, 0 ER, one hit, and one walk. In that game, none of the players that are now on the roster reached base.
The Braves have used the same lineup for the last few games. Before today’s game, the two most important questions were who would take the hill as the game one SP and if the lineup would remain the same. AJ Smith-Shawver and Bryce Elder were included in the Wild Card roster when it was revealed. We might see both Elder and Smith-Shawver because the bullpen has been used a lot these previous few days.
It was announced by Justin Toscano that AJ Smith-Shawver will start.
During the regular season, Smith-Shawver made one start and worked 4.1 innings, striking out four and giving up no runs while walking two.
He recently pitched well at AAA. He pitched 24.0 innings in September with a 3.75 ERA. Needless to say, none of the Padres have played Smith-Shawver yet this season. Moreover, he did not play against the Padres during his 25.1 IP season previous season.
In terms of the offensive line-up, Travis d’Arnaud will start at catcher and the remaining players are essentially the same as they have been in recent games.
Ozzie Albies in the number two place in the lineup seemed to have been crucial in the last few games. The lineup has been excellent when he’s in the zone. The momentum usually gets killed when he struggles.
Smith-Shawver will have his hands full as the Padres will start their lineup, which is largely healthy.
Tonight, AJ Smith-Shawver and the Braves lineup will be under a lot of strain. If the Braves prevail today, with Max Fried starting game two, they stand a decent chance of winning this series.
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