Jon Morosi reports on the GM meetings that Alex Anthopoulos has shared Spencer Schwellenbach’s new pain-free status after ending his season on the IL with a broken pitcher’s elbow. It was a very unusual injury for a pitcher that will have an immediate impact on the throwing arm, but hopefully will not have any long-term effects. This is a very positive update for the young star pitcher and for the Braves, as Atlanta has an extraordinary amount of uncertainty in their rotation that is directly due to injuries.
They essentially have five starting pitchers this season who are in some stage of injury recovery, with Chris Sale and Hurston Waldrep being the only incumbent pitchers with a real shot in the Opening Day rotation who are not dealing with any kind of injury recovery. Spencer Strider is still trying to find himself after UCL and hamstring injuries affected his 2025, while AJ Smith-Shawver is recovering from Tommy John, Grant Holmes wants to avoid Tommy John through rehab, Reynaldo Lopez is recovering from arm problems and Schwellenbach had his own strange injury. This adds a ton of variety to Atlanta’s starting rotation and is a big part of the reason for wanting to add another viable starter this season, especially now that Lopez and Holmes can effectively come out of the bullpen.
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