Hurston Waldrep continues to solidify spot in Braves 2026 rotation

Hurston Waldrep‘s magnificent rise to the top of the Braves rotation continued on Tuesday night in what was perhaps his most impressive start of the season.

The rookie had far from his best stuff and immediately found himself in a 1-0 hole before he could even record an out. But with a little help from Sean Murphy, who caught Jakob Marsee stealing for the first out, Waldrep limited the damage and escaped the first inning. That pattern repeated throughout the night. The Marlins put traffic on the bases in nearly every frame, even loading them with none out in the fourth, but Waldrep induced weak contact and worked his way out of trouble.

In total, the Marlins racked up eight hits against Waldrep but were only able to muster one run over 5.1 innings, keeping his streak in tact of consecutive starts with one run or fewer allowed.

He exited with a one run lead, but the Marlins tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a wild pitch from Dylan Lee. The score would stay deadlocked until the ninth, when the Braves bats finally came to life, exploding for nine runs and making the score look a lot different than the game felt for most of the evening.

The timely hitting was a refreshing sight from an offense that had been completely dormant for about 17 innings, but the game ball belongs to Hurston Waldrep, which is becoming a recurring theme every time he takes the mound.

A couple of months ago, Waldrep would have drowned with the stuff he had tonight, likely giving up 5+ runs and failing to make it through four innings for AAA Gwinnett. Instead, he turned what amounted to C-stuff into an A-level performance. That is the clearest sign yet of his growth as a big-league pitcher.

It’s time to start writing Hurston Waldrep’s name in ink when it comes to the Braves 2026 Opening Day roster.