The Atlanta Braves haven’t been bad by any means.
Their 30-21 record would even lead multiple divisions in baseball this year.
However, they share the NL East with the best team in MLB so far, the Philadelphia Phillies, and are six games behind in the divisional standings.
They also lost their star player in Ronald Acuna Jr. for the year with a knee injury.
Needing to make a splash and inject some life to the roster and the clubhouse, they have decided to bring up one of their top pitching prospects to start Wednesday’s game.
Schwellenbach is a former two-way player and a Tommy John surgery survivor, having undergone the procedure in 2022.
His arm is full of talent, though: he sits in the mid-90s with his fastball and has two solid secondaries in his slider and changeup.
The thing with most prospects is that they often can’t locate their stuff.
Schwellenbach, however, has shown a feel for command with both his breaking/off-speed pitches which, combined with his fastball velo, give him a nice floor.
This season, he has dominated to the tune of a 1.80 ERA in eight starts between High-A and Double-A.
The promotion to the bigs might be a tad aggressive, but the skills are there for him to be a successful major leaguer.
The Braves hope that his journey can start on the right foot.