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00:00The Braves are the five seed, so they make the long trip out to San Diego.
00:07It's the final game of four today.
00:10The Padres a pretty hefty favorite.
00:12And Joe, when we first got word yesterday, before we compare this match, we first got
00:17word yesterday that Chris Dale was going to start game two of the doubleheader to confirm
00:23Atlanta should have no issue earning that playoff bid.
00:26The line was nearly $5 in favor of the Braves on the money line, then he was scratched due
00:32to back spasms.
00:33All right, I'll tell you my first natural inclination, they're just saving him for the
00:37opener of the postseason to try to take an early lead over San Diego.
00:43But then Brian Snitker, Atlanta's manager after saying, no, these are actual back spasms.
00:48They are concerned they will not have the guy who was going to win the NL Cy Young Award
00:52for the entirety of this opening wildcard round against San Diego and what his playoff
00:57future could be, even if the Braves earn a division series berth very much up in the air.
01:04It really is.
01:05And then you take into the fact, Ben, that he's owed $22 million next year.
01:09He's got a club option for $18 million the following year.
01:13Don't forget next year, they get Spencer Strider back, Ronald Acuna Jr. back.
01:17I don't think they were just trying to, you know, pull a fast one and say, hey, can we
01:22get can we get to the playoffs without using sale?
01:25I think they have a serious concern on his health.
01:29And with the back and the back being an issue, we know that ain't going to get any better
01:34if he goes out there and takes three steps back because he tries to push himself.
01:39They got a decision to make on him because this guy's going to be a Cy Young winner this
01:44year and you're going to owe this guy, you know, 22, 25, almost $40 million over the
01:50next two years.
01:51Isn't it more important to keep him healthy than anything else here over the next couple
01:55of years?
01:56So I'm wondering if we see him at all in this series.
02:00And injuries have been a story for Atlanta.
02:03The fact that they even earned the seventh consecutive playoff bid for the Braves does
02:08say something.
02:09And the Padres, as you saw, a hefty favorite now because they are a hefty favorite in game
02:14one.
02:15I still think I'll be it on the road and on short notice, Chris Sale probably would have
02:20had the Braves as the short money line favorite in San Diego.
02:24We don't know the starting pitcher officially yet for the Braves.
02:27There is some speculation, but nothing confirmed.
02:30We do know the starter for the Padres.
02:33It's Michael King and the Padres are a minus 166 home money line favorite today.
02:39Joe Michael King has been darn good.
02:41We will preview these games a little bit later on.
02:44But the reason San Diego is now a minus 174 series favorite to win this best of three
02:49set and advance to the division series is because they can trust in King.
02:54He's 13 and nine this year with a 295 era.
02:58That era is the ninth best all around Major League Baseball.
03:02You know, it's funny.
03:03San Diego has dropped four of King's last six starts as a team.
03:08But in those four L's for the Padres, King has not allowed more than two earned runs.
03:13It just goes to show you how good he has been, even if the Padres have faltered a little
03:18bit in a couple of his last starts.
03:20Yeah.
03:21And and he was much better in the second half of the season that he was in the first man.
03:27So he actually got stronger as the season went on, which is interesting because he was
03:32a reliever.
03:33This is his first full season as a starting pitcher.
03:36And he's already pitched more innings, 70 more innings than he had from a year ago.
03:42He only pitched 104 innings a year ago.
03:45He's up to over 173 this year.
03:47So there's a lot of wear and tear in the arm, something he's not used to.
03:51But boy, is he assimilated really, really well to the starting pitching.
03:55My goodness.