Braves' Spencer Schwellenbach impresses in MLB debut, but offense is still sputtering

Source: The New York Times
Author: David O'Brien

ATLANTA -- On a night when Atlanta pitching prospect Spencer Schwellenbach made his major-league debut at Truist Park and provided reason for excitement about his future despite a 7-2 loss to the Washington Nationals, more than 500 miles away David Fletcher gave Braves officials something to think about, too, in his first start as a pitcher with Triple-A Gwinnett.

Yes, that David Fletcher.

The utility infielder told team officials several weeks ago that he had a knuckleball, and they agreed to let him show what he could do with it in a game. When they saw it was a legit knuckler, they told him they'd use him at least once a week as a pitcher at Gwinnett and see what he could do. Fletcher was thrilled.

After four relief appearances -- two good, two not so good -- he got a start Wednesday against the Norfolk Tides and pitched five innings of three-hit ball in a 5-2 win, allowing two runs and one walk with six strikeouts, including a strikeout of baseball's No. 1 prospect, Jackson Holliday.

No one is getting carried away with it just yet, but the Braves plan to see how far Fletcher can go with his knuckleball-based repertoire. It's such a rare pitch these days, perhaps he could eventually factor in as pitcher with the Braves.

For now, they're just going to see what he can do, his pitching role undetermined but the possibilities broadened after his initial showing as a starter, albeit just one Triple-A game.

He filled the slot that would've been Schwellenbach's Triple-A debut, if the Braves hadn't decided Monday to have "Schwelly" instead make his MLB debut with a start against the Nationals. It was an impressive outing for the 2021 second-round draft pick, especially through four scoreless innings.

Schwellenbach, who turns 24 on Friday, was charged with five hits, three runs, one walk and one hit batter in five innings and had five strikeouts in just his third start above the High-A level. Veteran catcher Travis d'Arnaud told him while warming up in the bullpen to look around and enjoy it because you only get one major-league debut.

"Looked up into the stands, tried to take everything in," Schwellenbach said of his thoughts as he went on the field before the first inning, with his parents, his fiancée, her parents and about 20 other family members and friends at the game. "I just thought, 'Oh, this is a really cool experience.' I was nervous in the bullpen, but once I got on the field I was fine."

All the runs against him came on Lane Thomas' fifth-inning homer. Before that, the Nationals were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position against Schwellenbach, who had a runner at third and none out in the second inning -- after a single and two-base error on Adam Duvall -- and got out of that, striking out Joey Gallo with runners on the corners to end the inning.

He gave up a two-out double in the third and a one-out double off the wall in the fourth and worked out of those tight spots.

"That's kind of the thing I saw -- his composure, slowing the game down, not letting it speed up on him," said Braves manager Brian Snitker, who gave high marks to Schwellenbach's pitch repertoire but saved his biggest praise for his demeanor and maturity. "I thought he was very impressive. That's kind of the stuff you're looking at when they come up.

"(Spencer) Strider was the same way, he just had an innate ability to kind of keep everything in perspective and not let the game speed up on him. I thought (Schwellenbach) did a real nice job."

"He stayed calm the whole time," d'Arnaud said. "Unfortunately, gave up the three runs there, but for the most part he was pretty even-keel and seemed like himself the whole time."

Schwellenbach pitched better than the Braves hit, as their sputtering lineup again struck out more frequently than anything else. Left-hander MacKenzie Gore struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings, and Atlanta hitters totaled 13 strikeouts with no walks.

Matt Olson had two doubles and Ozzie Albies had two hits, including a double, but that was it for offensive highlights from a Braves team that's hit .223 while averaging 3.3 runs and 9.2 strikeouts over its past 29 games, including 16 losses.

"Normally during a 162-game year, these little lulls happen," d'Arnaud said of the offensive malaise. "Last year, unfortunately for us, it happened in September and October. It's better it's happening in May, so we can grow and keep going forward with over two-thirds of the season left."

Before the Thomas homer in the fifth, it looked like an unfortunate incident might overshadow Schwellenbach's debut.

After giving up a leadoff double to Gallo in the fifth, Schwellenbach hit Jacob Young in the earflap with a 92 mph cutter, a frightening moment that had Truist Park fans -- including Schwellenbach's parents -- watching in silence for a couple of minutes, before Young was helped up and made his way to first base.

It had been about 1 inch from a potentially serious injury, and when Young was on the ground, Schwellenbach held his glove to his face, concerned. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz went to the mound and spoke with him before play resumed.

"Yeah, that was scary, for sure," Schwellenbach said. "Obviously, very happy that he stayed in the game and that nothing was wrong with him. They came out and talked to me, kind of got me settled down, and that helped, for sure."

After Young went to first base, Schwellenbach struck out Atlanta-area native CJ Abrams, but Thomas followed with a homer on a 2-2 fastball knee high over the middle instead of its target on the outer edge. It was one of the few mistakes Schwellenbach made.

"Exactly, and Lane Thomas is a great hitter," d'Arnaud said. "Just put a good swing on it and runners were on. Unfortunately for us, gave them the lead 3-1."

It was just the second home run off Schwellenbach in 50 innings this season at all levels and his fifth allowed in 115 innings of professional baseball over two seasons.

Though he's not long on pro experience -- only 17 minor-league starts -- his composure, relatively polished pitch mix and above-average command all influenced the Braves' decision to call him up, making him the latest in a revolving cast that's tried to fill the back end of the rotation and enable the Braves to give extra rest to the standouts at the top of their rotation.

He did it arguably better than any of the others have; he certainly did it better until the fifth inning.

Schwellenbach, a 2021 second-round draft pick out of the University of Nebraska who missed the 2022 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, was promoted to the majors less than two weeks after being promoted to Double A.

He was so good in his first two starts above High A, pitching 13 scoreless innings for Double-A Mississippi with 17 strikeouts, one walk and five hits allowed, that he got called up to Atlanta after pitching a Monday bullpen session at Gwinnett -- and after packing for what he thought was going to be a flight with the Triple-A team to Norfolk and a start against the Tides.

Instead, there he was Wednesday pitching in front of 33,654 at Truist. He was the first Braves pitcher to make the jump from Double A to make his MLB debut since Randall Delgado in 2011. (For context, Michael Soroka made four Triple-A starts before his debut at age 20 in 2018, and AJ Smith-Shawver had two Triple-A starts last season before his debut at age 20.)

Schwellenbach threw 60 strikes in 88 pitches and used his entire repertoire, including 30 four-seam fastballs (topping out at 97.5 mph), 22 curveballs, 17 sliders, 14 cutters and five changeups.

"I'm really impressed, and he was able to throw strikes with all of them, too," d'Arnaud said of the pitch mix. "Throw them to all quadrants and get chase with all his off-speed and his heater, too. He's got a lot of good things going for him, and I'm excited to see what else he can do."

Braves pitching prospect Owen Murphy will have Tommy John surgery, ending what had been a terrific early season for the 20-year-old righty. He had a 1.54 ERA in seven starts at High-A Rome with 60 strikeouts and 12 walks in 41 innings.

Murphy was a first-round pick in 2022 out of Riverside-Brookfield High in Riverside, Ill. The Braves expect him back at some point during the 2025 season.