Paddack was able to strike out five, but he issued four walks and threw just 57 of his 99 pitches for strikes. The right-hander issued one of those free passes with the bases loaded in the fourth, and his other run allowed came on a solo homer by Lenyn Sosa. Paddack wasn’t horrible, but it’s fair to say he was fortunate to limit the damage to just two runs, and also fortunate to be facing the White Sox. He shouldn’t be started against the Guardians next week.

While Paddack’s final line looks great, it may say more about the state of the Braves’ lineup than any breakthrough for Paddack himself. It took him until the third inning before he forced a swing-and-miss and only wound up with six on the night in total despite striking six batters out. His command was good though and he reared back for a handful of 96 mph fastballs. Relative to how Paddack has looked lately, this was an amazing start. He will seek revenge on the White Sox – who annihilated him a few weeks ago – in his next turn.

It was easily Paddack’s best effort in three starts, but it didn’t prevent him from falling to 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA. Even with Pablo López on the IL, Paddack is hanging on to a rotation spot by a thread. It doesn’t help that the Twins are 4-11 overall and seemingly in need of some sort of shakeup. If that fails to come, Paddack should start against the Braves next weekend.

Paddack allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out two. It certainly wasn’t as bad as his first start against the White Sox, but his rotation spot needs to be in serious danger. Zebby Matthews is an upgrade for the Twins.