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Hurston Waldrep in his college days at Florida
Heading into the 2026 season, the Atlanta Braves have a strong frontline of the starting rotation that includes Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach. Beyond Sale and Schwellenbach is a cast of arms that includes Spender Strider, Grant Holmes, Reynaoldo Lopez, Joey Wentz, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Hurston Waldrep.
While many Braves fans and analysts are calling for the team to bring in a veteran arm who can help eat up innings in the rotation, one problem the Braves face right now is not having enough rotation spots for every ‘starter’ on the roster. This means that some arms might be left out of the fold to start the 2026 season. A recent report indicates that it might be Hurston Waldrep who is the odd man out, despite having a really successful 2025 season.
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Report: Hurston Waldrep Could Start 2026 Season in Minors
According to a recent report by MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, the Braves’ Hurston Waldrep may begin the season in the minors, which is a bit surprising, but there’s reason behind it.
It was thought that Waldrep might have done enough during the 2025 season to earn a spot in the rotation. He pitched to a 2.88 ERA over 56.1 innings and 55 strikeouts in his first real MLB action.
GettyHurston Waldrep in his college days at Florida
During the part of the 2025 season when the Braves had several starters on the injured list, 23-year-old Hurston Waldrep got his call-up to the show to help get Atlanta through the remainder of the season.
The Braves’ rotation looks pretty solid on paper as of now, but all Braves fans know to hold their breath before the season begins, because the last two regular seasons have not been so kind to Atlanta and its starting rotation. Those rotation flaws haven’t necessarily been due to poor performance, but rather because the likes of Grant Holmes, Spencer Schwellenbach, Reynaldo Lopez, and AJ Smith-Shawver had all been out with injury.
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Why Might Hurston Waldrep Start the Season in the Minors?
The reasoning behind Hurston Waldrep being the odd man out in this scenario is due to other Braves starters being out of minor league options.
What this means is that starters like Grant Holmes, Joey Wentz, and Bryce Elder are all names among that group.
So while Waldrep comes with a lot of promise, and he will certainly continue to develop this upcoming season, if he ends up being called up to MLB, it might not be the best sign for the Braves, because that would mean disaster has struck the current starting rotation once again.
However, it’s a long season and plenty of arms will be breaking and rest periods, which also means Waldrep might get a chance for a fill-in role if players like Spencer Strider, Schwellenbach, or Chris Sale go down with injury.
The Braves brought in starter Martin Perez this week to help with some of those rotation depth issues.
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