After two serviceable starts from Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez, followed by the bullpen giving up runs to lose the first two games, in which the offense hasn’t done quite enough, Spencer Schwellenbach is hoping he can shut down the Padres and give the Atlanta Braves offense an opportunity to build an early cushion to find their first win of 2025.

Schwellenbach has gotten a ton of hype going into 2025 after his phenomenal rookie campaign in 2024. Spencer posted a solid strikeout rate with a fantastically low walk rate, good for a 3.34 xFIP that was right in line with his ERA, FIP, and xERA over 123.2 innings. That alone would be a fantastic pitcher over a full season, but it took Spencer a few starts in the majors to really hit his stride and the college shortstop absolutely blew past his career high in innings in 2024. Spencer absolutely looked the part of a Cy Young contender in a tiny sample this spring, as he led MLB in whiff rate among pitchers facing 50 swings and posted fantastic numbers over the 21.0 innings, including dominating a Yankees lineup that featured Aaron Judge. Tonight he will hope to show out against the Padres.

The Padres have the 26 year old righty, Randy Vasquez on the mound. Vasquez has been a fringy starter capable of eating non-disastrous innings at the major league level and his minor league track record seems to back that up. He seems to be a comparable level to Bryce Elder. He does have a more normal arsenal than Elder, with a fastball in the low to mid-90s and a fairly large pitch mix consisting of pretty unspectacular pitches. Vasquez has had solidly below average strikeout numbers at the major league level and a fine walk rate. Nothing Vasquez has shown should be of major concern to the Braves’ bats. With Schwellenbach on the mound, the Braves should have a sizeable pitching advantage in this matchup.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 7:15 p.m. ET

Location: Petco Park, San Diego, CA

TV: FOX

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan