Really appreciate the continued insight. You’re the only Braves commentator that I watch or read that hasn’t gone full panic mode because we don’t have 5 SPs that have never been injured and are projected to throw 170 innings at a sub-4.00 ERA. SP is still extremely important, but it is no longer the top determinitayive factor for team success. I’ve lshared a number of metrics that demonstrate this. Here’s one more: In 2025, 8 of the top 10 teams in runs scored made the playoffs. Five (5) of the teams with the lowest team ERA did not make the playoffs. The team needs to score runs! Full stop. And they also need to go through ST with the mindset that non-starters will throw 45% the innings and they will need 8-9 starters (hopefully, not more). They need to build and manage the roster and team accordingly. A lot went wrong last year and my sense is one of the issues is the manager had not fully embraced this reality.
Thank you. It’s become hard to watch / read other Braves commentators. They’ve “jumped the shark” since the injuries to Schwellenbach & Waldrep. I also really enjoyed your conversation with the new AJC beat writer.
Chad was great, except for the whole "Tyler Hefner" thing lol.
Yeah, I just don't believe in being overly negative for the sake of being negative. Am I worried about the rotation now that it's down two of the top six options? Of course, but there's only so much you can say about that before it just gets repetitive, and to your point, comes off as panicking.
Spring training is for being hopeful, and I still am despite the injuries.
I’m ok with negativity, but bring some data to support it. Interestingly, the data-based projection systems still seem to rank the Braves as a top contender even after the injury news and the fact that they didn’t sign Bassett (gasp!). I have a simple question for those that are so exercised: Can you identify a team that has 5 proven starters with close to no injury risk heading into 2026?
Maybe the Red Sox, depending on who wins the #5 spot, but even that's a question. I'm looking through all of them now and there's at least one question everywhere.
Might make a good social post if I can make a graphic for it
I really appreciate this perspective. It can honestly feel hard being a Braves fan right now if you’re not angry. So it’s refreshing to read analysis that isn’t driven by panic.
One thing that doesn’t get talked about enough is that Alex Anthopoulos makes unconventional moves all the time — and they often work. López came out of nowhere. Sale came out of nowhere. These aren’t the obvious, “internet-approved” moves, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. Just because it’s not the most predictable headline move doesn’t mean it isn’t intentional.
Last year they cycled through a lot of arms — some AAA depth, some lottery tickets. Joey Wentz is a good example. He was basically off the couch and gave a few solid starts before fading. That’s part of the reality now. Non-starters throw almost half the innings. You need 8–9 starters over a season. That’s not a failure — that’s modern roster construction.
I also agree that the offense is the swing factor. Eight of the top ten run-scoring teams made the playoffs last year. Meanwhile, five of the lowest-ERA teams didn’t. Run scoring matters. A lot.
If Olsen isn’t carrying everything alone, if Acuña is healthy and being Acuña, if Riley and Albies stay on the field, this lineup looks very different. Harris and Murphy don’t need to be MVP-level if the core performs to normal levels instead of “worst-year-of-their-career” levels and 7 of their closest Braves friends going along the worst years of their careers at the same time.
And with the pitching — I’m optimistic. If guys like Schwellenbach and Waldrep return and the new pitching coach gets the staff to pitch smarter rather than max-effort every inning — more López pacing himself, more Freed-style situational velocity — that changes the equation too.
It’s 162 games. There are always unknowns. That’s part of the fun. Even last year, with everything that went sideways, was entertaining and revealing.
I’m excited for this season. I’d rather enjoy the ride than live in constant outrage.
Thanks again for the thoughtful perspective. This place is better because of it.
Good article. Nice to have some optimism as spring training unfolds.
To change gears for a minute: In an article today Demetrius Bell said Schwellenbach had undergone surgery on his elbow for "loose bodies". When Schwellenbach's injury was announced a few weeks ago, it was described as "bone spurs". As a physician, I can tell you these are two different animals, although they certainly can exist concomitantly. When Schwellenbach went down last season we were told, as I recall, he had a tiny, non-displaced fracture of his olecranon (lower elbow bone). Rest, not surgery, was recommended as treatment. I would agree with that. However, the '"loose bodies" were surely there at that time and were probably quite evident on the MRI and I wonder if, since he was going to be shut down for several months anyway, there was discussion of endoscopic removal of the loose bodies at that time. Perhaps the thought was that the tiny fracture seemed like the main cause of his pain and they should let that heal and then reevaluate. It is true that there are pitchers who are able to pitch even with bone spurs and loose bodies, although many of them eventually have real problems. It's always easy to criticize with hindsight, but had he had the endoscopic surgery to remove the loose bodies back in September, he possibly could be tuning up to start the season like we had all envisioned. I just hope Schwellenbach was given a more complete picture of his elbow than we were.
And on the elbow stuff from last year, I'm guessing that they declined surgery because the thought was to get him back for a potential playoff push and then realized (too late) that the team wasn't in contention. They could have done it September or October, though, so maybe they got worse between last summer and now?
I'm pulling the Wednesday video from Weiss to double-check what he said. I know one of the beat writers down there tweeted the wrong thing and had to correct it, so Demetrius may have been working off the tweet (he was down there but I think he's already gone home by now). One sec.
Really appreciate the continued insight. You’re the only Braves commentator that I watch or read that hasn’t gone full panic mode because we don’t have 5 SPs that have never been injured and are projected to throw 170 innings at a sub-4.00 ERA. SP is still extremely important, but it is no longer the top determinitayive factor for team success. I’ve lshared a number of metrics that demonstrate this. Here’s one more: In 2025, 8 of the top 10 teams in runs scored made the playoffs. Five (5) of the teams with the lowest team ERA did not make the playoffs. The team needs to score runs! Full stop. And they also need to go through ST with the mindset that non-starters will throw 45% the innings and they will need 8-9 starters (hopefully, not more). They need to build and manage the roster and team accordingly. A lot went wrong last year and my sense is one of the issues is the manager had not fully embraced this reality.
Thanks for the kind words, Tom
Thank you. It’s become hard to watch / read other Braves commentators. They’ve “jumped the shark” since the injuries to Schwellenbach & Waldrep. I also really enjoyed your conversation with the new AJC beat writer.
Chad was great, except for the whole "Tyler Hefner" thing lol.
Yeah, I just don't believe in being overly negative for the sake of being negative. Am I worried about the rotation now that it's down two of the top six options? Of course, but there's only so much you can say about that before it just gets repetitive, and to your point, comes off as panicking.
Spring training is for being hopeful, and I still am despite the injuries.
I’m ok with negativity, but bring some data to support it. Interestingly, the data-based projection systems still seem to rank the Braves as a top contender even after the injury news and the fact that they didn’t sign Bassett (gasp!). I have a simple question for those that are so exercised: Can you identify a team that has 5 proven starters with close to no injury risk heading into 2026?
Maybe the Red Sox, depending on who wins the #5 spot, but even that's a question. I'm looking through all of them now and there's at least one question everywhere.
Might make a good social post if I can make a graphic for it
I really appreciate this perspective. It can honestly feel hard being a Braves fan right now if you’re not angry. So it’s refreshing to read analysis that isn’t driven by panic.
One thing that doesn’t get talked about enough is that Alex Anthopoulos makes unconventional moves all the time — and they often work. López came out of nowhere. Sale came out of nowhere. These aren’t the obvious, “internet-approved” moves, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. Just because it’s not the most predictable headline move doesn’t mean it isn’t intentional.
Last year they cycled through a lot of arms — some AAA depth, some lottery tickets. Joey Wentz is a good example. He was basically off the couch and gave a few solid starts before fading. That’s part of the reality now. Non-starters throw almost half the innings. You need 8–9 starters over a season. That’s not a failure — that’s modern roster construction.
I also agree that the offense is the swing factor. Eight of the top ten run-scoring teams made the playoffs last year. Meanwhile, five of the lowest-ERA teams didn’t. Run scoring matters. A lot.
If Olsen isn’t carrying everything alone, if Acuña is healthy and being Acuña, if Riley and Albies stay on the field, this lineup looks very different. Harris and Murphy don’t need to be MVP-level if the core performs to normal levels instead of “worst-year-of-their-career” levels and 7 of their closest Braves friends going along the worst years of their careers at the same time.
And with the pitching — I’m optimistic. If guys like Schwellenbach and Waldrep return and the new pitching coach gets the staff to pitch smarter rather than max-effort every inning — more López pacing himself, more Freed-style situational velocity — that changes the equation too.
It’s 162 games. There are always unknowns. That’s part of the fun. Even last year, with everything that went sideways, was entertaining and revealing.
I’m excited for this season. I’d rather enjoy the ride than live in constant outrage.
Thanks again for the thoughtful perspective. This place is better because of it.
This is what i love about Braves baseball :
Tomahawk Take reports Braves have a $1,5 million "handshake agreement" with a 12 year old defensive whiz shortstop. He is related to Ronald Acuna.
He would be a Class of 2030 player.
We likely don't even have the current IFA system by 2030
Good article. Nice to have some optimism as spring training unfolds.
To change gears for a minute: In an article today Demetrius Bell said Schwellenbach had undergone surgery on his elbow for "loose bodies". When Schwellenbach's injury was announced a few weeks ago, it was described as "bone spurs". As a physician, I can tell you these are two different animals, although they certainly can exist concomitantly. When Schwellenbach went down last season we were told, as I recall, he had a tiny, non-displaced fracture of his olecranon (lower elbow bone). Rest, not surgery, was recommended as treatment. I would agree with that. However, the '"loose bodies" were surely there at that time and were probably quite evident on the MRI and I wonder if, since he was going to be shut down for several months anyway, there was discussion of endoscopic removal of the loose bodies at that time. Perhaps the thought was that the tiny fracture seemed like the main cause of his pain and they should let that heal and then reevaluate. It is true that there are pitchers who are able to pitch even with bone spurs and loose bodies, although many of them eventually have real problems. It's always easy to criticize with hindsight, but had he had the endoscopic surgery to remove the loose bodies back in September, he possibly could be tuning up to start the season like we had all envisioned. I just hope Schwellenbach was given a more complete picture of his elbow than we were.
And on the elbow stuff from last year, I'm guessing that they declined surgery because the thought was to get him back for a potential playoff push and then realized (too late) that the team wasn't in contention. They could have done it September or October, though, so maybe they got worse between last summer and now?
I'm pulling the Wednesday video from Weiss to double-check what he said. I know one of the beat writers down there tweeted the wrong thing and had to correct it, so Demetrius may have been working off the tweet (he was down there but I think he's already gone home by now). One sec.
Weiss specifically says that Schwellenbach's procedure was for bone spurs, not loose bodies.
ok - thanks for the clarification. I would hope Demetrius would clarify, also.