The Braves face a tough pitching matchup as they look to avenge the first series of the season
The Braves will hope that Grant Holmes can put up a good enough outing to give the Braves a chance against Padres’ star Michael King. They really need to win this game to avoid losing another series and slipping further back behind .500, after a devastating loss Friday night.
Holmes continues to hover around replacement level, depending on which metric you prefer to evaluate on, as his FIP is a not-so-great 5.21, but his 4.15 xFIP and 4.01 ERA are much kinder. His walks have largely been more under control lately, as compared to the beginning of the season, but his strikeouts continue to be inconsistent from start to start. The sinking slider continues to be Grant’s money pitch, with some success coming with the slider as well, while the fastball has been hit hard and the curveball has been solid.
King has been really good since being traded to San Diego in the Juan Soto trade and is currently rocking a 3.20 FIP, with a 3.55 xFIP and a 2.59 ERA over 55.2 innings in 2025. He’s striking out an impressive 10.35 batters per 9, with a strong 2.75 BB/9. He makes most of his hay off of his sinker and changeup, which each have exceptional arm-side run, but he also throws a decent number of four-seamers and slider/sweepers. He’ll be a tough matchup for Braves’ hitters, but they have a huge boost in Ronald Acuna back from injury and Ronald’s bat looks absolutely scorching hot between his rehab games and his explosive return Friday night.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, May 24, 4:10 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: FanDuel Sports South/Southeast, Gray TV, MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan