The Atlanta Braves injury woes in the starting rotation got worse with Grant Holmes being shut down for the remainder of the season. Even worse, his timetable seemed like it might linger beyond the 2025 campaign when we found out it was an elbow injury with both Tommy John surgery and the internal brace procedure on the table. Instead, though, the 29-year-old Holmes told the team that he plans to rehab the damage to his UCL, ultimately electing to not have surgery.
Braves manager Brian Snitker made the announcement to the media on Monday that Holmes will forego any procedure, but that move already sounds like a substantial risk.
Perhaps the biggest point of concern is that, though it's not impossible, we've rarely seen the rehabilitation route work long-term in relation to Tommy John surgery, specifically. One of the reasons, especially in this situation, is that it seemed like procedures were the more likely option, which means that it could still be on the table if the rehab doesn't go to plan.
For the Braves, in particular, that could be highly problematic with the questions in the rotation that they're already facing, and ultimately already start to put a 2026 bounce-back season at risk.
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Grant Holmes opting to not have elbow surgery puts Braves at risk
Having either Tommy John or the internal brace procedure would've likely put Holmes out for most of the 2026 season. The upside, and it should be said that the fact that rehab was on the table from two doctors' opinions makes Holmes' decision justifiable to some degree, is that rehabbing the elbow injury could allow Holmes to pitch for the Braves in the 2026 campaign if all goes to plan.
The risk and the issue with that, as Braves insider David O'Brien of The Athletic noted, is that there is less of a guarantee to see some kind of recovery with the rehab than there is with the surgery. There's a legitimate chance that Holmes doesn't see any improvement with the damage to his UCL. And if that happens, then surgery would be back on the table going into the offseason, which would undoubtedly put the right-hander out for the entire 2026 season.
With the Braves already looking at a rotation that will be without AJ Smith-Shawver next season due to Tommy John and with the uncertain health of guys like Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez — not to mention a possible move back to the bullpen for the latter to preserve his health — that could leave Atlanta's rotation with a ton of questions.
This isn't wishing ill on Holmes at all and, frankly, with his age, he's probably trying to preserve as many years of his career as possible to maximize his earnings potential. And anyone with a pulse should be wishing that choosing to rehab the injury ultimately goes to plan. There is, however, no denying the risk that both he and the Braves are taking on with that decision, and how it could dig a hole even deeper after a lost 2025 campaign.