Spencer Schwellenbach Shows Promise as Braves Fifth Starter

The Atlanta Braves are starting to have a lot of good options for the No. 5 starter including Spencer Schwellenbach and Ian Anderson.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach was masterful in his start against the Philadelphia Phillies. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday night, the Atlanta Braves secured a significant victory, defeating the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 at Truist Park. This win was powered by the arm of their No. 3 overall prospect, Spencer Schwellenbach, who had his best performance of the season. 

He got the win after going six innings, striking out six Phillies without walking a man.

Spencer Schwellenbach had a great start today, tossing 6.0 IP with 1 ER, 7 H, 6 K, 0 BB

Schwellenbach allowed a bit of hard contact, but was able to shut down the Phillies bats with his deep arsenal. His splitter lived in the zone and generated a bunch of whiffs pic.twitter.com/r3IeTdLe6O

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) July 7, 2024

Schwellenbach, with his versatile pitching style using six different pitches, managed to strike out six Phillies and perform well with runners on base while also outpitching Phillies ace Ranger Suárez. This display of his skill set was a critical factor in his second-career win. It was a significant improvement from his last outing, in which he allowed four earned runs.

“I turned it around from last week and came in and made some adjustments, just hammering the strike zone,” Schwellenbach said.

Additionally, the run support was a boost, considering the team had only scored 10 runs in his previous six starts. Manager Brian Snitker acknowledged that the team must do better in supporting their guys on the mound after the game. 

“That was very, very impressive from the get-go,” Brian Snitker said. “I’m glad we scored some runs for him. We hadn’t scored many runs in his starts. He’s pitched well enough to have more than two wins. I thought that was really good.”

With run support, the 24-year-old believed that he could have pitched more than six innings, but Snitker decided there was no benefit in the team facing the Phillies lineup another time.

“This is his first year. I don’t think giving him extra innings is going to do us any good down the road. There may be times, but the bullpen was in really good shape. I just kind of felt like he had done his job. I liked that he was ready to go back out.”

With him and Ian Anderson pitching well in his rehab assignments, the back end of the Braves rotation is getting stronger by the day.

With Schwellenbach pitching the way he is, the focus at the trade deadline should be shifted toward addressing the offense’s woes. General manager Alex Anthopoulos’s job may have gotten slightly easier after Spencer’s dominating performance against the NL East leaders. 

Overall, Atlanta still can have one of the best and deepest rotations in baseball come playoff time, even without Spencer Strider.