SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Padres enjoyed their 1st off day of the season yesterday; will now play 18 games in 18 days
• San Diego had their 1st off day on Wednesday and will not enjoy their 2nd one until April 24th, playing 18 games in 18 days from April 6-23.
• San Diego is also starting the regular season with 24 games in 25 days…they had 1 off day on April 5, they will have one in Chicago on April 24th, and they’ll have their 1st off day in San Diego on April 28.
• After April 23rd, the Padres will have 3 off days in 11 days from April 24-May 8. Padres split 1st homestand 3-3 vs. COL, AZ
• The Friars lost their last game of the homestand against the D-Backs on Tuesday, snapping a 3-game winning streak…Yu Darvish got his 1st start of the season, going 5.0 IP with 1 run allowed…Manny Machado was ejected from the game after he was called out on strikes due to a
pitch clock violation…Nelson Cruz hit his 1st homer of the season, and Xander Bogaerts hit his team-leading 3rd. Snell needs 2 strikeouts to reach the 1,000 K club
• Blake Snell makes his 2nd start of the year tonight, getting the Opening-Day nod a week agon on March 30 vs. Colorado (went 4.1 innings with 3 runs allowed on 6 hits and 9 strikeouts)…Snell has 998 career punchouts, and with 2 tonight, he’ll reach the 1,000 SO mark…Snell will be the 15th active pitcher to have 1,000 strikeouts since 2016 (teammate Yu Darvish has 1,111 K’s since ’16)…9 pitchers have recorded their 1000th career strikeout in a Padres uniform, and the last one was Ian Kennedy on May 28, 2015 vs. PIT (Elias).
Against the Braves
• The Padres are amidst a 8-day, 7-game roadtrip to Atlanta and Mets…they went 4-3 against the Braves last year (2-1 @ Truist Park from May 13-15, 2022)…after this 4-game set in Atlanta, the Padres will host the Braves when they return from the 7-game roadtrip (will host them for a 3-game series in San Diego after the Padres play a 4-game set against the Brewers).
X-Man’s start in San Diego
• Xander Bogaerts leads the Padres in most offensive categories to start the year, and he enters today tying for the National League-lead in extra-base hits (6), and doubles (3), ranks 2nd in total bases (21), T-4th in RBI (7), 4th in SLG (.955), 5th in OPS (1.395), T-8th in hits (9), and 10th in average (.409).
• Xander has hit safely in each of his 6 games to start the season, and he’s hit 3 homers in his last 4 games with 6 RBI in that time and 2 walks…it’s the 1st time in his career in which he’s had more than a 3-game hitting streak to start a campaign (last was in 2018)…Dave Roberts holds the Padres’ record for the longest hitting streak to start a season (14 games), and if Xander gets a hit today, it’ll be the 1st Padres hitting streak of at least 7 games to start a season since Jon Jay in 2016 (8 game streak).
STARTING PITCHER – BLAKE SNELL
Snell makes 2nd career start vs. Braves
The 30-year-old left-hander is set to make his 2nd career start vs. the Braves tonight to kick off this 4-game set…it will be his first start vs. ATL in Padre brown and gold, with the other outing coming during his Cy Young 2018 season on May 8, allowing 1 run on 4 hits across 6.1 IP in Tampa Bay’s 1-0 defeat.
Milestone alert
After his 9 Opening Day punchouts, Snell enters tonight’s matchup with 998 career strikeouts…with 2 tonight, he’ll reach the 1,000 SO mark and become the 15th active pitcher to have 1,000 strikeouts since 2016 (teammate Yu Darvish has 1,111 K’s since ’16)…9 pitchers have recorded their 1000th career strikeout in a Padres uniform, and the last one was Ian Kennedy on May 28, 2015 vs. PIT (Elias) Snell tagged with the loss in 2nd Opening Day Start He made his 2nd career Opening Day start last Thursday vs. COL, striking out 9 and walking 1 with 3 runs allowed on 6 hits in SD’s 7-2 defeat…his other Opening Day start was opposite HOU’s Justin Verlander, who finished 2nd to Snell in the 2018 AL Cy Young Award voting and made his 11th Opening Day assignment…it was the fourth time since the Cy Young Award was introduced in 1956 that a reigning winner faced the runner-up on Opening Day.
Can’t spell Blake without the K
In 2022, he posted the 2nd-highest SO/9 IP ratio (12.02) of his career, along with 5 double-digit strikeout performances…from 2018-22, he posted the 3rd-most double-digit strikeout games (23) among all ML left-handers, trailing only Robbie Ray (26) and Chris Sale (25). Sits 5th in SO/9 IP (10.99) since his debut season in 2016 (min. 800 IP), trailing only Max Scherzer (11.78), Robbie Ray (11.48), Jacob deGrom (11.43) and Gerritt Cole (11.33).
Since 2016
Among all ML pitchers who have made at least 150 starts since Snell’s debut season in ’16, he ranks in the top 6 in HR/9 (0.96, 4th), H/9 (7.34, 6th), ERA (3.43, 6th) and opponents’ AVG (.221, 7th).
Tale of two halves
In his 10 first half starts last season, he went 1-5 with a 5.22 ERA and .705 opponent OPS…in his 14 second half starts, he went 7-5 with a 2.19 ERA and .585 opponent OPS…finished the season with a 3.38 ERA, it’s lowest mark at any point in 2022.
Wins and losses
His 8 winning decisions last season were the 2nd-most of his career, trailing only his 21 from his 2018 Cy Young season…his 10 losing decisions where also a career high, ahead of the 8 from his rookie 2016 season and in 2019 with Tampa Bay.
2022 Postseason look back
Made his NL debut during the 2022 Postseason after reaching the NLDS with TB in ’19 and the World Series in ’20, going 2-0 with a 4.61 ERA (7 ER, 13.2 IP), .264 opp. AVG and 1.68 WHIP….started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series at NYM on Oct 8 vs. NYM and did not factor into SD’s 7-3 defeat…earned the win and gave SD the 2-1 series advantage in Game 3 of the NLDS vs. LAD on Oct. 14 at Petco Park, allowing 1 run on 5 hits with 6 strikeouts across 5.1 IP in SD’s 2-1 victory…started Game 2 of the NLCS vs. PHI on Oct. 19 at Petco Park and earned the win in SD’s 8-5 victory, tossing 5.0 innings of 4-run ball on 5 hits and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts.
ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Padres tonight open a four-game weekend set with the first of seven scheduled meetings between the two teams
this season…The teams will play again just eight days after the conclusion of this series with a three-game set at Petco Park.
• Atlanta dropped the season series to San Diego, four-games-to-three, last season, snapping a streak of five straight seasons of winning the set…The Braves went 24-16 (.600) against the Padres from 2015-2021.
• The Braves are 11-7 against the Padres here at Truist Park, although they have lost five of the last seven games between the teams here…One of those games was suspended and then completed at Petco Park in 2021…Atlanta’s first series in the history of Truist Park came versus San Diego, and resulted in a four-game sweep for the Braves from April 14-17, 2017.
• RH Spencer Strider has never started against San Diego, but has made a pair of relief appearances versus the Padres and compiled a 3.86 ERA (2 ER/4.2 IP)…The 6-foot-0, 195-pound righthander pitched 6.0 scoreless innings in his season debut versus Washington, fanning nine…In 16
appearances at Truist Park last season, including 10 starts, he pitched to a 6-1 record with a 2.17 ERA (17 ER/70.2 IP) and 114 strikeouts.
• LH Blake Snell has made just one career start against Atlanta, doing so on May 8, 2018 while with Tampa Bay and allowing four hits and one
run over 6.1 innings…Took the loss, however, in the Rays defeat, 1-0…The 6-foot-4, 200-pound native of Seattle fanned nine over 4.1 innings in his season debut, but allowed six hits and three runs to take the loss.
LEADING: Atlanta completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis yesterday, and held a lead following 26 of the 27 innings completed in the series…The Braves and Cardinals were tied, 1-1, after the first inning in the series opener, the only frame in which Atlanta did not hold a lead.
• The Braves have held a lead for 43.2 total innings this season, easily the most in baseball…Tampa Bay ranks second with 37.2, while the Dodgers are closest in the N.L. at 29.0 innings…Conversely, Oakland has led for just 7.0 total innings this year, fewest in the majors.
• Atlanta is one of just eight teams without a loss in a game they lead in at any point this year… The Braves only lost 20 times in games they led at any point last season, the fewest such losses in the majors…The Dodgers and Mets both had 21 such losses.
• Atlanta has yet to trail in any of its five wins this year…The Braves played 67 games in which they never trailed last season, the third most games in the majors…Only Houston (74) and the Mets (71) had more.
ONE THOUSAND FOR SNIT: Brian Snitker is set to manage the 1,000th game of his career tonight… Snitker took over on an interim basis on May 17, 2016, before being named Atlanta’s manager on October 11, 2016…He joined the organization as a non-drafted free agent in 1977 and is in his 47th season with the club.
• He will become the fifth manager in franchise history to skipper 1,000 games, joining Bobby Cox (3,860), Frank Selee (1,677), George Stallings (1,201) and Bill McKechnie (1,235).
• Snitker has compiled a 547-452 (.548) record at the helm for Atlanta, and needs just 33 more wins to move into sole possession of third place in franchise annals…Stallings (579 wins) and McKechnie (560) rank third and fourth, respectively, while Cox (2,149) and Selee (1,004) sit atop the leaderboard.
• Since taking over for Atlanta on May 17, 2016, Snitker’s 547 wins stand as fourth most for any manager in baseballl…The Dodgers’ Dave Roberts (637) and Guardians’ Terry Francona (574) rank first and second, respectively, while the Rays’s Kevin Cash (549) sits third.
• Atlanta’s 23 postseason wins since Snitker took over in 2016 are third most in baseball, trailing just the Astros (53) and Dodgers (45).
• Research courtesy the Elias Sports Bureau.
WINS: Atlanta’s win yesterday moved the club to 5-1 through its first six games, its best start to a season since also going 5-1 in 2015.
• The Braves have now started 5-1 or better through six games 10 times since moving to Atlanta in 1966, and have made the postseason in four of those first nine such seasons.
• There was no postseason in 1994 when Atlanta started a perfect 6-0, and the club missed the playoffs in 2015, 2009, 2007 and 1983.
• Atlanta did not win its fifth game last season until the 10th game of the year, and was not four games over .500 until June 9 (31-27)…The Braves would go on to win 101 games on the season.
FIRST INNING: The Braves scored three more runs in yesterday’s first inning, and scored in the first in all three games of the series in St. Louis…Atlanta’s eight first-inning runs this season are tied for tops in the majors.
• The Braves lead the majors outright in first-inning hits (14) and homers (4), while their five extra-base hits are tied for most.
• Leadoff batter Ronald Acuña Jr. has five hits in the first inning through just six games, most in baseball by a hitter batting first, while Austin Riley’s two homers and four RBI in the first inning are tied for top in the league.
• The Braves only scored 71 runs in the first inning last season, seventh fewest in the majors and the least of any playoff team
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #65 Spencer Strider
Today’s Game
• Set to make his first career appearance against San Diego.
• Enters play 1-2 with a 3.53 ERA against NL West teams.
• Last start against Washington tossed 6.0 scoreless innings of three-hit ball.
• Owned a 5.54 ERA against the Nationals prior to his previous outing, the fourth highest against any single opponent.
• Now posting a 3.79 career ERA against Washington.
• Pitched to a 1.69 ERA in five appearances, four starts, with 21 strikeouts through 16.0 innings pitched in Spring Training.
2022 Recap
• Pitched his first full major league season and went 11-5 with a 2.67 ERA (39 ER/131.2 IP) and 202 strikeouts…Led rookie pitchers in the majors with 4.9 fWAR and 3.7 bWAR.
• Fanned 202 and allowed just 86 hits on the season.
• Is the only pitcher in baseball history to record at least 200 strikeouts and allow fewer than 100 hits in a year.
• Became the quickest pitcher in baseball history to ever reach 200 strikeouts in a single season, doing so in his 130.0th inning…Hall-of-Famer LHP Randy Johnson held the previous record, reaching 200 strikeouts in 130.2 innings in 2001.
• Was the third rookie in franchise history to strikeout 200 in a season, and the first in the modern era…The other rookies to reach 200 strikeouts were RHP Kid Nichols, who struck out 222 in 1890, and Bill Stemmyer, who fanned 239 in 1886. ..Just 16 rookies have done so in history, with Yu Darvish being the last to do so (221 strikeouts in 2012).
• His 13.8 strikeouts per 9.0 innings is the highest by a rookie pitcher in MLB history (min. 12 starts)…Chicago’s Kerry Wood held the previous mark with 12.6 K/9.0 IP.
• No pitcher in Braves franchise history has pitched at least 100 innings in a season and fanned even 11.0 batters per 9.0 innings…In fact, just two pitchers, Brandon Beachy with 10.7 in 2011 and Charlie Morton with 10.5 last year, have been above 10.0.
• Ranked 11th in the majors with 202 strikeouts…However, did so in just 131.2 innings…Each of the 10 pitchers with more threw at least 166.0 innings on the season.
• Among pitchers to throw at least 100.0 innings on the season, Strider’s 13.81 K/9.0 IP were easily most in the majors, over 1.5 strikeouts more than the closest pitcher…Blake Snell fanned 12.02 batters per 9.0 innings to rank second.
• Opened the season pitching out of the bullpen, and moved into the rotation on May 30 at Arizona…Made 11 appearances out of the bullpen and went 1-1 with a 2.22 ERA (6 ER/24.1 IP)…In 20 starts, went 10-4 with a 2.77 ERA (33 ER/107.1 IP).
• Prior to his move into the rotation, Atlanta was 23-25 and its starters had pitched to a 4.38 ERA…From the date of Strider’s first start, May 30, to the end of the season, the Braves went 78-36 and the starters pitched to a 3.46 ERA.
• Started on September 1 vs. Colorado and pitched a career-most 8.0 innings, holding the Rockies to just two hits and no runs in the effort…The Braves beat the Rockies, 3-0, to give Strider his ninth win of the season.
• Set the single-game, Atlanta-era record with 16 strikeouts in the game, which also ranks second in all-time franchise history…John Smoltz previously held the Atlanta-era record, punching out 15 on two occasions: May 24, 1992 at Montreal and April 10, 2005 versus the New York Mets…Warren Spahn holds the all-time Braves record with 18 punchouts on June 14, 1952 versus the Chicago Cubs.
• Strider’s 16 strikeouts are the most in a single game by a Braves rookie in franchise history.
• He became the fourth different rookie in the modern era to strike out at least 16 batters in a game without issuing a walk…Dwight Gooden had exactly 16 K’s in two consecutive starts in 1984 (9/12 vs. PIT, 9/17 @ PHI)…Kerry Wood struck out 20 against Houston on May 6, 1998, and Jon Gray fanned 16 Padres on September 17, 2016.
• Research courtesy Elias.
• Was named NL Rookie of the Month for July…Went 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA (8 ER/26.2 IP) over five starts in the month.
• Five of the eight runs came in one start, July 17 at Washington…In his other four turns, went 2-0 and pitched to a 1.19 ERA (3 ER/22.2 IP) with 37 strikeouts.
Career Recap
• Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft.
• In three seasons with Clemson, went 5-2 with a 4.71 ERA (33 ER/63.0 IP) in 26 appearances, 10 starts.
• Struck out 89, an average of 12.7 per 9.0 innings.
