Braves See Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep to Undergo Surgeries

The debate on the recoveries of two Atlanta Braves pitchers has come to an end in the form of two unfortunate injury updates.

According to MLB.com's Mark Bowman, Hurston Waldrep will undergo Tommy John surgery, and Spencer Schwellenbach will undergo surgery to repair another elbow fracture. With these procedures, Waldrep is essentially out for the 2027 season, and Schwellenbach will keep facing doubts.

Spencer Strider, meanwhile, still has a chance to be back, but the odds aren't looking very good.

All three of these pitchers have been battling various injuries since the start of spring training in mid-February. Schwellenbach and Waldrep had both undergone surgeries to remove loose bodies from their elbows. The latter's ailment was less severe, so he had returned for some of the season. The former's year was essentially doomed from the start.

For Schwellenbach specifically, this is the second time he has dealt with an elbow fracture. The first one was what started his injury journey.

Strider went down with an oblique injury a week before opening day, and he lasted about a month before sustaining his current injury, right elbow inflammation, that shut him down for a couple of months.

Waldrep and Strider were last reported to be throwing down in North Port, Fla, at the complex at the time of these updates. Both of them had recently started unexpected throwing programs. As far as we are currently aware, Strider is still implied to be throwing.

At this point, the Braves weren't counting on any of these pitchers to be back at some point this season. It would have been nice, but it wasn't part of the plan. Even with this update, there is a reinforcement who should be on the way soon.

Reynaldo López is making his second rehab start with Gwinnett on Friday. After that, we'll see what the Braves' plan is for him. He is expected to build up to 60 to 70 pitches in this upcoming start. He's been working his way back from a knee injury.

Since AJ Smith-Shawver recently rejoined the fray, the Braves will have seven starting pitching options to choose from when López returns. As of now, there have six starters getting their turn through the rotation. Once rosters expand on Tuesday, there should be more flexibility to keep a six-man rotation going.

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