One of the lone bright spots for the Braves is dazzling

There have been very few moments that Braves fans have had to get excited about this season, and Spencer Schwellenbach is one of those lone bright spots.

Since making his MLB debut, he’s been the rotation’s stopper. Each time the Braves needed a quality outing, Schwellenbach has over-delivered, and he did it once again against the Phillies over the weekend.

Schwellenbach notched a career-high 12 strikeouts to end a three-game skid with a 6-1 victory over Philly on Saturday night. The Braves were coming off two losses to the Mets and then a crushing 13-0 loss to the Phillies on Friday.

Schwellenbach responded with seven innings while allowing only three hits. He now ranks 11th among NL pitchers with a 3.09 ERA to go along with an impressive 0.97 WHIP, which ranks third in the National League. Over his last 10 starts, Schwellenbach has gone at least seven innings in seven outings while producing a 2.60 ERA in that span.

He throws strikes and rarely walks guys, trailing only Tarik Skubal‘s 9.62 K:BB ratio with an even 6.00 mark. Unlike seemingly every other Brave in the clubhouse, Spencer Schwellenbach loves to face the Phillies.

In five starts against the Braves’ NL East rivals, Schwellenbach has a 2.01 ERA, going at least six innings in four of those five starts, never allowing more than two runs in any of the outings.

I can count the number of players that have exceeded expectations this season on one hand, and Spencer Schwellenbach is certainly one of them. In the wake of Chris Sale‘s injury, among other losses to the rotation, he’s been the unit’s stopper.