The Atlanta Braves endured an injury-riddled 2025 season. They are hoping to not have to battle a plethora of injury concerns again this year, but a number of issues have already emerged before spring training. It was previously revealed that Spencer Schwellenbach will miss a significant amount of time due to an injury. On Sunday, it was announced that Hurston Waldrep is dealing with an elbow issue, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
After reporting the news, Bowman shared his thoughts on the Braves’ current starting pitching situation amid Schwellenbach and Waldrep’s injuries.
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Bowman called adding another starter a “dire necessity” with spring training games drawing near. They were linked to pitchers such as Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen in free agency, but Valdez ended up signing with the Detroit Tigers while Gallen recently agreed to return to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Chris Bassitt was also mentioned as a candidate for Atlanta, but the veteran ultimately signed with the Baltimore Orioles.
Lucas Giolito and Walker Buehler are among the remaining starting pitching free agents. Before the Waldrep news was announced, signing a pitcher seemed like it would be a good move for Atlanta. Now that Waldrep is expected to miss time, however, bringing in another starter does indeed seem like a necessity.
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Of course, it does not necessarily have to be via free agency. Atlanta could always look to acquire a pitcher in a trade. The Braves have been hesitant to part ways with their top prospects, so it remains to be seen if they would be open to making a deal.
Whether it is via trade or free agency, adding another starting pitcher makes sense. At the moment, Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes are the only guaranteed starters for the 2026 rotation. They have all dealt with injury concerns in recent years, though, so pitching depth will be of the utmost importance.
The Braves had an overall respectable offseason, but the fact that they failed to add a starting pitcher is perplexing, as it was arguably a need even before the aforementioned injuries.
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Atlanta is currently gearing up to begin games in spring training. The Braves’ front office will need to look for a way to give the starting rotation a boost, though. If they are unable to bring in a starter, it could be another long season in Atlanta.