Spencer Schwellenbach might be the Braves best pitcher

Braves fans finally had something to cheer about Friday night, and it was much needed. Spencer Strider was electric in Gwinnett, tossing 5.1 innings of hitless ball with eight strikeouts. He might not need another start before joining the big-league club. In Atlanta, another Braves pitcher, Spencer Schwellenbach, continued his ascendance to ace status.

The second year man was brilliant his first time out, going six innings and allowing just one hit against a very good Padres lineup. The Marlins offense doesn’t present the same kind of challenges, and Spencer Schwellenbach made it look like that on Friday night.

From start to finish, Schwellenbach put on a clinic. He had a perfect game going into the fifth inning that was finally broken up on a weak single to left field with two outs, but he would respond by striking out the next batter. One of his ten strikeouts on the night, as he shutout on the Marlins over eight innings, allowing just two hits without walking a single batter.

The line is about as good as it gets without tossing a perfect game, but when watching Spencer Schwellenbach, something is just different. He ended last season as one of the better pitchers in baseball and has taken it to completely different level this year.