Atlanta Hopes Injury-Riddled Pitching Staff Returns To Health

Towering southpaw Chris Sale, a free agent this fall, hopes to recapture his 2024 Cy Young Award form this season. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

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Although Atlanta pitchers and catchers are due to report for spring training on Feb. 9, the team struck out in its off-season mission of bolstering an injury-ravaged starting rotation.

The Braves used 19 starters last season, when manager Brian Snitker played Whack-a-Mole with a rotation that never had all five members healthy at the same time.

New manager Walt Weiss, Atlanta’s bench coach under Snitker for the past eight seasons, now needs a myriad of medical miracles to get the team back to its usual perch at the top of the National League East.

Until 2025, the Braves had seven straight winning seasons, six ending in division crowns and one in a world championship. But that was before the arrival of an injury wave that started in spring training and never let up.

Probable Starters

When the pitchers gather in North Port, FL in a few weeks, Weiss will have a projected starting staff headed by former Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale, fellow strikeout king Spencer Strider, and the promising Spencer Schwellenbach, starting his first full season.

Veteran Reynaldo Lopez and youngsters Grant Holmes and Hurston Waldrep will vie for the two remaining spots. But that’s dependent upon Lopez (shoulder surgery), Holmes (UCL injury), and Schwellenbach (broken elbow) proving sound in exhibition play and Waldrep (6-1, 2.88) proving his strong finish was more skill than luck – and hitters not yet familiar with him.

Another young starter, AJ Smith-Sharver, was thriving when his elbow barked unexpectedly, forcing him to undergo Tommy John surgery. He’ll probably miss the entire 2026 season.

Sale No. 1

The unquestioned ace of the staff is the 6’6″ Sale, a sidewinding southpaw who turns 37 just after the season opens in late March. Two years ago, he won the National League’s Triple Crown of Pitching (leadership in wins, strikeouts, and ERA) after arriving from Boston in a one-sided trade for infield prospect Vaughn Grissom. Last year, he missed two months after breaking several ribs in a fall on the field.

The Braves hope Sale reverts to his 2024 form – especially given the incentive of looming free agency this fall. He’s completing a two-year, $38 million contract extension that makes him one of the team’s highest-paid pitchers (sluggers Matt Olson and Matt Riley top the team at an annual average of $22 million each).

Strider is right behind them, earning $20 million this year and $22 million for the next three seasons as part of a six-year, $75 million contract signed in 2022.

Slow to heal from UCL brace surgery – a Tommy John alternative – Strider started late and struggled all season, finishing 7-14 as the team slipped to fourth place in the five-team division.

New Coach

At 27, he has the potential to succeed Sale as ace of the staff, especially if highly-regarded new pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, formerly with the Mets, is correct in his assessment that the serious-minded Strider needs to adjust the arm angle of his delivery.

Sale, Strider, Lopez, and Bryce Elder are former All-Stars whose health holds the key to a potential return to contention. Elder’s eight wins led the varsity even though he spent part of the season in Triple-A.

At age 25, Schwellenbach could even emerge as ace of an evolving staff. Only 25, he went 7-4 with a 3.09 ERA in 17 starts last summer before spending the rest of the season on Atlanta’s crowded injured list.

The Braves like the versatility of Lopez, who had a 1.99 ERA in 25 starts during his All-Star season in 2024. He joined the team as a free agent (three years, $30 million).

While the arch-rival Mets (Bo Bichette) and Phillies (Kyle Schwarber) were spending big money on big hitters this winter, the Braves bolstered their defense with shortstop Ha-seong Kim (1 year, $16 million), bench with Mike Yastrzemski (three years, $26 million), and bullpen, re-signing closer Raisel Iglesias (one year, $16 million) and adding the highly-coveted Robert Suarez (three years, $45 million). After leading the National League with 40 saves, Suarez will now serve as set-up man.

President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos prowled the pitching market, hoping to land a veteran or two, but found free agency too pricey for his budget – though things could still change. He also engaged in trade talks for Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta, according to multiple and persistent media reports. Such a deal could still materialize.

Shortstop Search

Anthopoulos also might need to scour the market for a shortstop, since Kim slipped on the ice in Korea earlier this month, suffering a finger injury expected to keep him sidelined for most of the season’s first half. He had surgery in Atlanta after the fall.

At 76-86, the Braves finished 20 games behind the front-running Phillies last season. If their injured hurlers return to good health, they should be able to close that gap.

The team won its last pennant in 2021, when it also won the World Series for the second time since moving to Atlanta in 1966.