The Atlanta Braves were predicted to win the NL East division and were a top three favorite to win the World Series in 2025. Not even 10 games into their season, it is already questionable if they will even be able to make the postseason.
Atlanta is off to a horrendous 1-8 start. The majority of the Braves' struggles can be blamed on the offense's inability to score runs or the bullpen failing in high-leverage situations. However, Brian Snitker's starting rotation is not exactly stellar. Atlanta fans have the right to be frustrated because Alex Anthopoulos should have seen this disaster unfolding from a mile away.
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Atlanta Braves' starting rotation experiment going as expected
It was early in the offseason when both Max Fried and Charlie Morton had signed with their respected new teams as a free agent. This left two massive holes in the Braves rotation that could have been filled by signing free agents of their own. Instead, Alex Anthopoulos decided he was going to save some money and try to restructure the starting rotation internally.
With ace Spencer Strider still battling back from surgery, the Braves rolled out these five as their starting rotation at the start of the season: Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Grant Holmes.
Since Opening Day, Lopez has already suffered an injury that has placed him on the 60-day IL and is facing surgery. Chris Sale has not been what he was in 2024 and AJ Smith-Shawver has been exactly what he was last year, a young pitcher with control issues. Additionally, Grant Holmes is really more of a reliever than a starter, the Braves are just out of options at this point.
Following the Lopez injury, right-hander Bryce Elder joined the Braves big league roster and will take over his spot in the rotation. Although Elder has an All-Star season under his belt, he is wildly inconsistent himself and cannot be expected to be the one who turns the ship around.
Spencer Schwellenbach has been the only bright spot for the Braves rotation as he has not given up a run in his first two starts. One reliable starter out of five will not result in a lot of wins. It is one thing to go through these struggles during a rebuilding phase but it is incredibly frustrating for Braves fans when it was clear that this all could have been avoided.