The Braves opened camp this morning with an unwelcome update about the talented young righty Spencer Schwellenbach. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list due to inflammation in his right elbow, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman.
The team’s hope is that the 25-year-old player is dealing with bone problems and not something serious. Regardless, since the “60-day” term begins on Opening Day (and can only be extended by a maximum of three days), Schwellenbach will miss at least two months of work to start the season. His IL placement should open up a spot on the catcher’s roster Jonah Heimwho agreed to a one-year deal with Atlanta earlier today.
Injuries to the pitching staff were a hallmark of Atlanta’s 2025 season, and their 2026 campaign isn’t off to a very different start. The Braves are already looking for rotation help — perhaps already knowing Schwellenbach will be sidelined — with reported interest Chris Bassitt again Lucas Giolitoamong others. Atlanta has to make one pivot from last season, sign Jorge Mateo again Kyle Farmer (the last one on a minor league contract) in the back Ha-Seong Kim he tore a ligament in his hand while skating and fell to a minor injury outside the arena. He will need four to five months to recover from the subsequent surgery. Schwellenbach’s injury looks set to pave the way for a late replacement.
The Braves were already dealing with workload and health concerns in this transition. Chris Sale he missed significant time with a broken ribcage last season and has a long injury history. Spencer StriderComing back from UCL surgery produced results that were nowhere near his stellar performance before the injury. Schwellenbach missed months with a broken elbow. Reynaldo Lopez He started only one year due to shoulder surgery. Promising young righty AJ Smith-Shawver he was shelved after a slow start due to his Tommy John routine.
Going into the year, Atlanta’s rotation appeared to include Sale, Strider, Schwellenbach, Lopez and one of Hurston Waldrep, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, Didier Fuentes or an outside addition like Giolito or Bassitt. The Braves are down to three aging veterans (Sales, Strider, Lopez), none of whom are coming off a peak season in terms of health and performance. There should be some urgency to add another starter to help keep pace with the National League East’s endless numbers.
How much cap space the Braves do or don’t need to make that addition in the rotation happen is unclear. RosterResource projects an actual cash payment of approximately $268MM and a CBT fee of approximately $10MM less than that. That puts the Braves about $6MM shy of the second-tier luxury tax penalty. They will owe a 20% tax on any dollars up to $264MM of the luxury brand and a 32% tax on anything from $264MM to $284MM. That’s probably the point at which Atlanta would like to stop their spending, given that going over the third-round cap of $284MM is the point at which the team’s top pick is dropped 10 spots.
