The Cardinals have pulled a bit of a surprise by announcing that Kwang Hyun Kim will be the starter in their wild-card playoff opener Wednesday afternoon against the Padres in San Diego.
Manager Mike Shildt announced that veteran Adam Wainwright would have the second game on Thursday and opening-day starter Jack Flaherty would have game three, if necessary, on Friday, in the best-of-three series.
Korean lefthander Kim, who statistically has been the Cardinals’ best starter, has a 3-0 record and 1.62 earned run average for seven starts and one relief appearance. He has given up only 28 hits in 39 innings and never has faced the Padres.