Getty
Spencer Schwellenbach shed light on his recent injury diagnosis.
The Atlanta Braves kicked off MLB Spring Training with a troubling revelation about star right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach. The 25-year-old starter is working through a right elbow injury and will open the season on the 60-day IL. Schwellenbach spoke to reporters to provide more details about the injury, which could require surgery.
“The bone spurs are causing an issue in the back of my arm,” Schwellenbach told reporters, including Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “A scope is what you would do to get those taken out. As of right now, that’s probably what the plan is going to be. We don’t have a set date or plan set up, but that is probably what’s next.”
When asked if surgery was the next step, Schwellenbach responded, “Yeah, most likely.” He was noncommittal about the potential timeline for a return, but any time a pitcher goes under the knife, his season is in jeopardy.
Spencer Schwellenbach Dealt Difficult Injury News
The recent injury comes as Schwellenbach was recovering from a separate elbow issue. He went down in July with a fractured elbow, which cost him the rest of the 2025 season. The righty detailed how he had undergone a seamless offseason up until a couple of weeks ago. As he went through a bullpen session, he experienced new discomfort in his throwing arm. “The last three pitches, just felt something wrong in the elbow,” Schwellenbach told reporters.
The fractured elbow last year ruined what was turning into a breakout season for the young ace. Schwellenbach delivered 17 starts with a 3.09 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP. He trimmed his already-low walk rate to 4.1%, which ranked in the 99th percentile.
Schwellenbach added a full tick on his four-seam fastball last season. He also improved the whiff rate of his slider. The righty boasted three separate pitches that had a whiff rate above 30%, with the slider joined by the splitter and curveball. The arsenal generated a strong 13.4% swinging-strike rate and a CSW% above 30%. Stuff+ graded Schwellenbach as having four above-average pitches.
Braves Rotation Can’t Escape Injury Bug
It’s becoming Groundhog Day for the Atlanta pitching staff. The unit was crushed by injuries last season and has opened camp with more of the same this year. Spencer Strider had two separate stints on the IL in 2025, first for an elbow issue, then for a hamstring injury. Chris Sale missed multiple months with a fractured ribcage. Reynaldo López was sidelined for nearly all of the campaign due to a shoulder injury. An elbow problem ended Grant Holmes‘ season in August.
The rotation was expected to have several options behind its star trio coming into 2026. Lopez and Holmes were deemed to be good to go. The club brought in Martin Perez to compete with Joey Wentz and Bryce Elder for the No. 6 starter spot. The Braves boasted such a volume of depth that top prospect Hurston Waldrep was trending toward being bumped off the roster. Now, multiple pitchers from the bunch are looking at action right away, with the Braves missing one of their top arms for at least the first two months of the season.
More Heavy on Braves
Loading more stories