Atlanta Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach was roughed up in his second career start and Atlanta was shut out for the first time in more than a year in their 9-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
“Lot of strikes, kid is learning,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said per ESPN. “He doesn’t have a lot to fall back on yet. But the stuff was good. He threw a lot of strikes. Got hurt with some two-strike, probably got too much of the plate. But he competes really well. Stuff is good and there’s a lot of upside there.”
Schwellenbach (0-2) allowed six runs on seven hits with two walks over 4 2/3 innings. In his first career start last week, he pitched well enough against the Washington Nationals in his five innings of work but made one bad pitch – allowing a three-run homer to Lane Thomas in the loss.
The Braves’ 2021 second-round pick was called up to the big leagues last week as the team continues to look for a starting pitcher to replace Spencer Strider in the rotation after Atlanta’s ace was lost for the season for elbow surgery. Max Fried, Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, and Charlie Morton have excelled in the 1-4 spots but 2023 All-Star Bryce Elder, A.J. Smith-Shawver, and now Schwellenbach have all failed to get results in the no. 5 slot.
The Braves look to get right against the Nationals on Thursday when Lopez (3-2, 1.73 ERA) will be opposed by Washington’s Mitchell Parker (4-3, 3.60).
The Braves are being bitten by the injury bug quite hard this season. First, it was Sean Murphy – who went down on Opening Day and missed 49 games with an oblique strain. Then Strider was lost for the year. Austin Riley missed several weeks with an oblique strain of his own before Ronald Acuna Jr. suffered his own season-ending injury.
