The Atlanta Braves will hand the ball in a winner-take-all playoff game to a 32-year-old reliever who has thrown 18 innings all season. The team confirmed it plainly on social media: “LHP Ray Kerr will start tonight’s game.”
Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series goes at 8:15 p.m. ET at Truist Park on NBC and Peacock, with Kerr opposite Aaron Nola. The series is tied after Atlanta took Game 1 by a 5-3 score and Philadelphia answered 4-3 in 10 innings on an Alec Bohm home run.
On paper it looks like panic. It is not.
Atlanta Has No Starters Left
Look at who is unavailable. Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach are both done for the year with elbow problems and sat on the 60-day injured list. Hurston Waldrep is out. Joey Wentz is out with a knee issue.
Bryce Elder had arthroscopic right knee surgery on September 8 with a three-to-four week timeline. Reynaldo Lopez is down with right shoulder inflammation. Martin Perez has a lower back problem. None of them are options for this round.
Chris Sale started Game 1. Tyler Mahle started Game 2. That is the whole list. There is no fourth starter to summon, so manager Walt Weiss is not choosing Kerr over a better option. Kerr is what is left, and Weiss built the plan around that instead of pretending otherwise.
Kerr Is an Opener, Not a Starter
This is the detail that gets lost in the outrage. Kerr is expected to face the top of the Philadelphia order and hand off, with Grant Holmes lined up to cover the bulk innings behind him.
Weiss has been consistent about the logic. “When you use an opener, it’s always matchup-oriented,” he said. “You don’t do it just to do it. It has to be the right matchups, the right personnel.”
The matchup here is obvious. Kerr is left-handed and the first inning in Philadelphia’s order runs through Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Left-handed hitters went 4-for-23 against Kerr this season, a .174 mark with one extra-base hit.
There is also bullpen math. Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee and closer Raisel Iglesias would all be pitching a third consecutive day if used Thursday. Burning one of them in the first inning is worse than using the fresh arm.
The Numbers Are Better Than the Reaction
Kerr has a 1.47 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP across nine appearances this season, with 11 strikeouts and two walks in 18 and a third innings. He did not debut for Atlanta until August 17 because he spent 26 months rebuilding from Tommy John surgery in June 2024.
Against this specific opponent in September he threw six and a third scoreless innings with five strikeouts and no walks over two appearances. He has handled the Phillies better than most of Atlanta’s healthy arms have.
A Long Way From the 7-Eleven
Kerr’s path makes the moment better. He came out of a Reno high school, went to Mendocino College, then quit baseball entirely and took work at a movie theater and a 7-Eleven. A coach at Lassen College talked him back onto a field, and he got scouted out of the Alaska Baseball League as an undrafted signing.
Now he opens an elimination game for a 94-win NL East champion. Atlanta is not doing this because it wants to. It is doing this because it is the smartest version of a bad hand, and Kerr has earned the inning.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.