San Diego Padres vs. Atlanta Braves Prediction: Can Yu Darvish Still Pitch Like an Ace?
San Diego Padres vs. Atlanta Braves Prediction: Can Yu Darvish Still Pitch Like an Ace?
The Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres are both 5-5 to start the year. Whoever wins tonight's game on ESPN will be 6-5 heading into a new series. The other team will be below .500 through 11 games this season.
It's early. There's no panicking. But this is a game both teams would like to have. With Yu Darvish on the mound, the Padres are expected to win. Will the Braves earn an upset win? Here are our picks, predictions, and odds for Sunday Night's game between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres.
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Padres vs. Braves Start Time and Where to Watch
- Date: April 17, 2022
- Game Time: 7:08 pm ET
- Where to Watch: ESPN
Click Here for Padres vs. Braves Odds
Padres vs. Braves Injury Report
Braves
Out: OF Ronald Acuna Jr. (Knee)
Padres
Questionable: OF Will Myers (Thumb)
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Padres vs. Braves Total Runs Movement
San Diego Padres vs. Atlanta Braves Prediction
The rookie pitcher, Bryce Elder, will make his second major league appearance in tonight's ESPN game. That's a crazy start for a pitcher that was on nobody's radar to start the season. Not only will Elder get to pitch in tonight's game. He's facing one of the best pitchers in baseball in Yu Darvish. He's got to go toe-to-toe with him.
Elder threw 5.2 innings of work in his first outing in the big leagues against the Nationals. He allowed three runs on six hits along with four strikeouts. Elder didn’t walk a single batter and also induced 10 ground balls. Those were the positives from Elder.
The negatives were that the right-hander struggled against the Nationals' lefties giving up a wOBA of .426 and ISO of .438 in 16 plate appearances. Yes, it's a small sample size, but it's something to monitor as he continues to pitch more. The Padres will more than likely have more lefties than righties in the lineup for tonight's game.
Elder is going to be unpredictable. But the same can be said about ace Yu Darvish. He looked absolutely awful in his second start of the season for the Padres.
Darvish went six innings and allowed no runs against the Diamondbacks in his first outing but gave up nine runs on eight hits in 1.2 innings against the Giants in his second outing. He was rocked by the Giants but he had to escape some real damage against the Diamondbacks too. Darvish walked four batters and only struck three, despite not allowing a run.
The top of the Braves lineup includes righty mashers with a stack of Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Marcell Ozuna. All four of those hitters have ISO numbers above .215 and wOBA at .350 or higher dating back to last season.
Therefore, I'll grab the over in the first five innings in this one. The number is sitting at four.
San Diego Padres vs. Atlanta Braves Pick
- Over 4 F5 @ -115 (Bet $115 to Win $100)
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Article Author
Jason grew up an avid sports fan. His passion for sports writing grew in high school and he developed a blog that was strictly for New York Sports. From his work, you will quickly realize that he loves looking at games from an analytical and numbers perspective and hopes to provide you with that same perspective in his articles.