“Let’s talk Schwell and Waldrep. Boo shack a lacka boo, man, dam.
First off: I don’t think people can overestimate how important Schwell was — and still is — to the 2026 Braves. Because when you look at how rotations actually work, it’s not just about having one ace. It’s about innings, stability, and how often you don’t put the bullpen in a bad spot.
Schwell wasn’t just a ‘good starter.’ He was a rotation stabilizer — the kind of guy who changes the math for the entire staff. Fewer bullpen games. Fewer early hooks. Fewer high-leverage innings for your relievers in May and June that come back to bite you in September.
Now Waldrep is a different kind of value. Waldrep was the midseason reinforcement — and those guys matter because every year, you’re going to lose starters. It’s guaranteed. Something is always going to happen. So when you get a pitcher who can come in midseason and give you starter-level innings — not just survive, but actually help you win games — that can be the difference between winning the division and fighting for a wild card.
And here’s the bigger point: no matter what the Braves do in free agency or trades, unless they bring in multiple high-quality starters — like, literally three — Bryce Elder is still going to be a major cog in this rotation.
And I know a lot of fans have a low opinion of him. But the thing is: the Braves’ success isn’t just about how good the top 2 guys are. It’s about what happens in the 4 and 5 spots. That’s where seasons are won and lost.
Elder has already shown he can take the ball, give you innings, and hold the line. And that’s not glamorous — but it’s valuable. He’s one of those pitchers where you don’t fully appreciate him until you imagine what the rotation would’ve looked like without him over the last few years.
So love him or not, Elder is an important part of the Braves’ rotation math. And how he goes might determine how far the Braves go. Again. Again.” (of course the team has to hit and not have an entire team slump--just saying)
How did Nolan Ryan make it 27 years when we can't keep a rotation up for two weeks of spring training? You remember Bob Gipson going down? Juan Marichal? Pedro Martinez? For the Braves, Tony Cloninger? Denny Lemaster? Phil and Joe Neikro? Don Drysdale? I agree with Pedro: "ballplayers today have baby muscles". If a young boy has talent, he is coddled, only plays sports during the summer. No potatoe shed job, Feed store, throwing hay on a farm, learning how to be a hard working man. Its discouraging rooting for a team with catastrphic injuries to half your team during a season. How do you even put a TEAM TOGETHER now knowing you'll have 40 different guys filling in on a full-time or part-time basis? Why pay multiples of millions to a piece of glass? Glad its not my job.
Someone emailed me a question very similar to this, and I think the default answer is we don't remember the guys who got hurt and just vanished; the survivorship bias means we remember the stars who didn't.
Looking at a random Nolan Ryan season (1985, an All-Star year), 25-year-old Jeff Heathcock made seven starts and had a 3.36 ERA (including a four-hit complete game) and then didn't pitch in the majors again until 1987. He had a 5.81 ERA in 1988 before retiring in 1990 at the age of 30.
“Let’s talk Schwell and Waldrep. Boo shack a lacka boo, man, dam.
First off: I don’t think people can overestimate how important Schwell was — and still is — to the 2026 Braves. Because when you look at how rotations actually work, it’s not just about having one ace. It’s about innings, stability, and how often you don’t put the bullpen in a bad spot.
Schwell wasn’t just a ‘good starter.’ He was a rotation stabilizer — the kind of guy who changes the math for the entire staff. Fewer bullpen games. Fewer early hooks. Fewer high-leverage innings for your relievers in May and June that come back to bite you in September.
Now Waldrep is a different kind of value. Waldrep was the midseason reinforcement — and those guys matter because every year, you’re going to lose starters. It’s guaranteed. Something is always going to happen. So when you get a pitcher who can come in midseason and give you starter-level innings — not just survive, but actually help you win games — that can be the difference between winning the division and fighting for a wild card.
And here’s the bigger point: no matter what the Braves do in free agency or trades, unless they bring in multiple high-quality starters — like, literally three — Bryce Elder is still going to be a major cog in this rotation.
And I know a lot of fans have a low opinion of him. But the thing is: the Braves’ success isn’t just about how good the top 2 guys are. It’s about what happens in the 4 and 5 spots. That’s where seasons are won and lost.
Elder has already shown he can take the ball, give you innings, and hold the line. And that’s not glamorous — but it’s valuable. He’s one of those pitchers where you don’t fully appreciate him until you imagine what the rotation would’ve looked like without him over the last few years.
So love him or not, Elder is an important part of the Braves’ rotation math. And how he goes might determine how far the Braves go. Again. Again.” (of course the team has to hit and not have an entire team slump--just saying)
How did Nolan Ryan make it 27 years when we can't keep a rotation up for two weeks of spring training? You remember Bob Gipson going down? Juan Marichal? Pedro Martinez? For the Braves, Tony Cloninger? Denny Lemaster? Phil and Joe Neikro? Don Drysdale? I agree with Pedro: "ballplayers today have baby muscles". If a young boy has talent, he is coddled, only plays sports during the summer. No potatoe shed job, Feed store, throwing hay on a farm, learning how to be a hard working man. Its discouraging rooting for a team with catastrphic injuries to half your team during a season. How do you even put a TEAM TOGETHER now knowing you'll have 40 different guys filling in on a full-time or part-time basis? Why pay multiples of millions to a piece of glass? Glad its not my job.
Someone emailed me a question very similar to this, and I think the default answer is we don't remember the guys who got hurt and just vanished; the survivorship bias means we remember the stars who didn't.
Looking at a random Nolan Ryan season (1985, an All-Star year), 25-year-old Jeff Heathcock made seven starts and had a 3.36 ERA (including a four-hit complete game) and then didn't pitch in the majors again until 1987. He had a 5.81 ERA in 1988 before retiring in 1990 at the age of 30.
https://x.com/AlisonWSB/status/2023050126034370873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2023050126034370873%7Ctwgr%5E9bfb4b221150838463ec006d334d9da508fb281e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.batterypower.com%2Fpost%2F1HQMp7wjlT3w