The Braves’ rotation has been a hot topic in the early days of spring training, with a few injuries already popping up, leading to speculation about the club looking to add outfield. Atlanta has been linked to similar pitchers Lucas Giolito again Chris Bassitt this offseason but Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the club’s interest in those two pitchers has been exceeded. Burns says they didn’t pursue Bassitt hard before he signed with the Orioles and never got involved with Giolito, who is still a free agent.
It’s a curious place for the club to be. Injuries played a big role in the 2025 season. They entered the campaign as bullies but ended up 76-86. Almost every starter got hurt, so much so that the only guy to go over 126 innings was Bryce Elderwho posted a run average of 5.30.
Heading into the offseason, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said that strengthening the rotation will be a “point of emphasis” but made no significant changes there. It is clear that he had money to spend but has invested it elsewhere, having signed an outfield player Mike Yastrzemskia football player Ha-Seong Kimand relievers Robert Suarez again Raisel Iglesias in eight deals.
That left the rotation looking vulnerable coming into camp and the picture has gotten worse since. Spencer Schwellenbach was placed on the 60-day disabled list last week due to elbow inflammation. Hurston Waldrep he is being evaluated now because of the pain in his elbow.
The rotation is still the opposite, in theory, but with question marks everywhere. Chris Sale He is an ace but is about to turn 37 and has been injury prone in recent years. Spencer Strider he missed most of 2024 due to elbow surgery and had poor results in his return to the mound last year. Reynaldo López He started only one year due to shoulder surgery. Grant Holmes it was discovered that he tore part of the ulnar collateral ligament last year and is now trying to come back while avoiding surgery.
That team can be a solid front four if everyone is healthy and playing well but that’s a very good if. The depth beyond that group is also questionable. Martín Pérez again Carlos Carrasco they are in the league with minor league deals but nothing to inspire much confidence. Didier Fuentes it is remarkable but he is only 20 years old and he was shot during an emergency call last year. Jhancarlos Lara again José Suarez they are listed but seem to be depth/turn types. JR Ritchie is one of the club’s top prospects but has only 11 Triple-A starts under his belt.
There’s an argument for adding a reliable veteran to bolster the back of the rotation, even if it doesn’t raise the ceiling too much, but Anthopoulos recently said the club is looking for a playoff-caliber starter. Until recently, the first stop market still had a lot of attractive names in it but Atlanta didn’t step up to the plate. Guys like Bassitt, Zac Gallen, Nick Martinez, Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, Chris Paddack, José Urquidy, Tomoyuki Sugano, Aaron Civale, Miles Mikolas, Erick Fedde, Griffin Canning again German Marquez they have agreed to small one-year deals in the past week or so.
Maybe the club will continue to pitch reliable innings. If they don’t like Giolito, the market remains to be seen Zack Littell, Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson, Marcus Stroman and others.
The club may also have run out of dry powder. RosterResource works out a $264MM payroll and $260MM balance sheet tax number for the competition. That payment is nearly $50MM above where they finished last year and the CBT number puts them within $4MM of the second tier tax, which they may not want to cross.
If there is no money left, it looks like a strange season for the team. They invested in many areas of the list but did not understand the area that should be the most focused. Maybe Anthopoulos can put together a trade for a cheap and manageable small pitcher, but the price for such pitchers will be high. Maybe they’ll get lucky and their guys will stay healthier than last year but the injury bug is already biting before spring games even start.
Photo courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images
