The Atlanta Braves face significant uncertainty across their starting rotation heading into the offseason, with president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos acknowledging that the club cannot rely on right-handers Spencer Strider or Spencer Schwellenbach to anchor the staff next year.
Speaking in an exit interview with Braves beat reporter Mark Bowman, Anthopoulos made it clear that injury histories for both pitchers will force Atlanta to re-evaluate how it builds its pitching staff moving forward.
Strider's effectiveness has dropped noticeably since undergoing InternalBrace surgery in 2024, showing diminished velocity and movement on both his fastball and slider. After entering the year with hopes that a healthy offseason would restore his elite form, Strider continued to struggle before being shut down for the remainder of the season due to another elbow injury.
Schwellenbach missed the entire season after fracturing his elbow midway through 2025. His recovery encountered severe complications, ultimately requiring a screw inserted into his elbow and leaving his long-term pitching timeline completely uncertain.
Addressing the team's long-term rotation strategy, Anthopoulos stated that Atlanta must plan conservatively when mapping out inning workloads for the upcoming campaign.
"I think from a planning standpoint, I don't think it'd be responsible to sit here and say, 'OK, those guys are going to start 30 games and throw 180 innings.' So that's something we're definitely going to have to account for and talk about where we're going to get our innings for next season," Anthopoulos said.
The uncertainty leaves veteran ace Chris Sale as the team's lone established cornerstone, forcing the front office to explore options for replacing significant rotation innings.
Anthopoulos referenced how the club managed Grant Holmes last winter as a model for handling uncertain pitcher roles.
"I remember telling Grant Holmes last offseason at the beginning, how he progressed was going to tell us what his potential role would be and how we would bank him and so on in terms of anything. So, if you sit here today, I don't think you're going to see us come in and say that we expect [Strider and Schwellenbach] to be locks in the rotation with [Chris] Sale."
With Strider sidelined by lingering elbow issues and Schwellenbach approaching two full years without starting a game, Atlanta must avoid overestimating internal depth as it constructs its roster for next season.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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