Jon Morosi reporting from the GM meetings conveys that Alex Anthopoulos has shared Spencer Schwellenbach’s new pain-free status after ending his season on the IL with a fractured throwing elbow. It was
a very unusual injury for a pitcher that does directly impact the throwing arm, but will hopefully 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 traced to injuries.
They essentially have five starting pitchers at some stage of injury recovery this offseason, with Chris Sale and Hurston Waldrep the only incumbent pitchers with a real shot to be in the Opening Day rotation who are not dealing with some form of injury recovery. Spencer Strider is still trying to find himself after UCL and hamstring injuries impacted his 2025, while AJ Smith-Shawver is recovering from Tommy John, Grant Holmes is looking to avoid Tommy John via rehab, Reynaldo Lopez is recovering from arm troubles, and Schwellenbach had his own strange injury. This adds a ton of variance to Atlanta’s starting rotation and is much of the rationale for wanting to add another viable starter this offseason, particularly with Lopez and Holmes able to come out of the bullpen effectively.
