{"id":639110,"date":"2026-03-23T15:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T15:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/639110\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T15:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T15:45:14","slug":"atlanta-braves-pitching-staff-receives-more-terrible-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/639110\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta Braves pitching staff receives more terrible news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/21\/didier-fuentes-atlanta-braves-on-roster\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Atlanta Braves<\/a> seem to can\u2019t catch a break. Unfortunately for the Braves, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/12\/atlanta-braves-spencer-strider-willing-to-change-as-pitcher\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">right-hander<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/stridsp01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Spencer Strider<\/a> will begin the season on the injured list. <\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mlbbowman\/status\/2036079198087835969?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">According to MLB.com\u2019s Mark Bowman<\/a>, Strider has an oblique strain and is the latest injury to the Braves\u2019 pitching staff. Left-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wentzjo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Joey Wentz<\/a> (ACL) and right-handers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/schwesp01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Spencer Schwellenbach<\/a> (elbow) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/waldrhu01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Hurston Waldrep<\/a> (elbow) are also starting on the injured list. <\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Strider had been putting together a fantastic spring before this setback \u2014 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA and striking out 11 in 8.1 innings. The Braves were counting on Strider to be their No. 2 starter in the rotation behind 2024 Cy Young Award winner left-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/salech01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Chris Sale<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The Atlanta Braves need to figure out the starting rotation to begin the season<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">With the season starting this week, the Braves are in a tight spot to fill out the starting rotation. Right-hander JR Ritchie had been in the running for the rotation \u2014 2.25 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 12.0 innings \u2014 and would\u2019ve been a great fill-in until he got assigned to minor league camp. <\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Left-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/perezma02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Martin Perez<\/a> did not make the Braves\u2019 Opening Day roster, but agreed to stay with the team and is also an option. The former All-Star did well enough to earn a rotation spot this spring \u2014 2.84 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. <\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">However, the most immediate option would be 20-year-old right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fuentdi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Didier Fuentes<\/a>. Fuentes made the team as a bullpen arm after striking out 17 in nine innings this spring. <\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Fuentes has never worked out of the bullpen in his professional career and could fill in nicely for manager Walt Weiss. Right-handers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmegr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Grant Holmes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/elderbr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Bryce Elder<\/a> will follow Sale in the rotation and try to hold things down until Strider returns.<\/p>\n<p>Left-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/suarejo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Jose Suarez<\/a> \u2014 3.85 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 16.0 innings \u2014 is also an option to start for Weiss in the rotation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Braves do have options on the free agent market available, but with the season starting on Friday, the Braves have limited time to find another arm.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">(Top Image Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Braves seem to can\u2019t catch a break. Unfortunately for the Braves, right-hander Spencer Strider will begin&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2394],"tags":[191,46,4166,5,192,4,9685,773],"class_list":["post-639110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-atlanta-braves","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-atlantabraves","tag-baseball","tag-braves","tag-mlb","tag-roster-moves","tag-spencer-strider"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116279268276059674","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}