Braves pitchers Waldrep, Schwellenbach to have elbow surgery
The Braves and manager Walt Weiss announced Friday that pitchers Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach will both have season-ending elbow surgery. Waldrep will have Tommy John surgery.
Waldrep made three appearances for the Braves this season, the last coming July 7 before he was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. He made one start for the Stripers on July 19 in Toledo, but pitched just three innings.
The 24-year-old right-hander was expected to be part of the Braves’ rotation this season before having elbow surgery in February. Waldrep has pitched in 15 MLB games and gone 6-3 with a 4.99 ERA.
Schwellenbach, 26, was also expected to be a major part of Atlanta’s starting pitching this season before he also had elbow surgery in February. The right-hander never made it back to the Braves and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since June 28, 2025. He had a small fracture in his pitching elbow around then that ended that campaign.
In June, Schwellenbach told the AJC he fully expected to pitch for the Braves this season.
“We were just waiting for the bone to fully heal. Got the green light (in early May) to start going, and just kind of working through the progressions now with throwing at 75 feet,” Schwellenbach said. “Everything feels really good and just trying to keep on building from there.”