Spencer Schwellenbach has been brilliant for the Atlanta Braves so far in his young career, but his right elbow is threatening to derail some of his early progress.
After a fantastic first 17 starts last season, Schwellenbach went on the injured list in July with a hairline fracture in that elbow. He missed the rest of the season, but president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos declared the 25-year-old “pain-free” in November, seemingly signaling that he would be good to go for the new season.
But as the Braves reported to spring training in Florida on Tuesday, it instead became clear that Schwellenbach’s elbow was still a serious concern, as the righty became the first unofficial spring training injury surprise across Major League Baseball. Multiple reports confirmed that Schwellenbach is set to be placed on the 60-day injured list, which opened up on Tuesday.
“Spencer Schwellenbach is dealing with right elbow inflammation,” reported Mark Bowman of MLB.com on X. “The Braves are hoping he’s just dealing with bone spurs. But he’ll miss significant time. He’ll begin the year on the 60-day IL.”
Crucially, the 60-day clock on Schwellenbach’s return cannot start until three days before opening day, which means if he returns as soon as he’s eligible, he still will have missed the first two months of the regular season.
The Braves’ battered rotation already looked like it needed extra support behind Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, and Reynaldo López, all of whom have weathered significant injuries within the last two seasons as well. Newcomer Martín Perez figures to be in the mix for an opening day rotation spot, though he likely ranks behind Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder in the early pecking order.
For now, the Braves just have to cross their fingers and hope Schwellenbach avoids Tommy John surgery. But even if he can return relatively fast, Atlanta also has to be weighing one more big addition in free agency, such as Zac Gallen or Justin Verlander.
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