Breaking down the Braves’ need for a starting pitcher

SAN ANTONIO — The situation is quite clear.

“I think Max Fried had 29 starts, Charlie Morton made 30 starts. That’s 60 starts, pretty much, between the two of them,” Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And we have a lot of young internal options for starters, but those are two veterans and guys that were big parts of our rotation that are currently free agents. That’s another thing that we’re gonna have to talk through and work through.”

Along with the bullpen, which lost Joe Jiménez (left knee surgery) for a significant chunk of 2025.

Along with the outfield, which will play without Ronald Acuña Jr. (ACL surgery rehab) to begin the season.

The Braves have those pressing needs, but the starting rotation is right there with them — if not above them. Remember this: The Braves also will need to account for not beginning the season without Spencer Strider (elbow surgery rehab) in the starting rotation, as he will not yet be ready to pitch.

At this point, the Braves’ rotation is as follows: Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Spencer Schwellenbach. Strider’s return will strengthen the unit even more. But the Braves likely need to add one proven, talented arm to this group. Especially because 2024 provided us with this lesson: A dominant rotation can cover up a lot of other issues.

The Braves have to fill the 59 starts made by Fried and Morton. At this point, it would be a massive surprise if Fried re-signed with the Braves in free agency. The current indication is that Morton might pitch next season instead of retiring — though that doesn’t mean the Braves would sign him.

Yes, the Braves have AJ Smith-Shawver, one of their top pitching prospects.

Yes, they have Hurston Waldrep, another top prospect.

They have Bryce Elder and Ian Anderson, Dylan Dodd and Allan Winans. And even Drue Hackenberg, the prospect who made it to Triple-A Gwinnett this year.

Smith-Shawver and Waldrep, in particular, are two guys who appear to have upside.

“They’re young, they’re talented, they have options,” Anthopoulos said. “With options comes flexibility, and we can go with the hot hand. We’ll see how that goes. But look, they have huge ceilings. You’re gonna need more than five. Those guys will pitch, and if they perform, there’s going to be opportunity — each year there is. When that opportunity comes, whoever is throwing the best will get that opportunity.”

How does the organization view Anderson’s return to action following rehab from Tommy John surgery? (He posted a 3.96 ERA over 10 starts at Triple-A, with 53 strikeouts and 27 walks over 52-1/3 innings.)

“Yeah, I mean, he didn’t have a great year in Gwinnett, he was fine,” Anthopoulos said. “But I’m excited, now with a normal offseason, not rehabbing anymore, he can have a normal offseason, come into camp and compete for a job. He’s out of options. He’ll be stretched out in spring, and he’ll have an opportunity to make the team. But excited to see what he’ll look like after an offseason of not rehabbing, and just a normal offseason.”

The Braves have so much depth, but can they bank on it? Maybe not. And as Anthopoulos said, Fried and Morton were veteran rotation members. The Braves should — and probably will — try to fill those roles with other proven pitchers before resorting to internal options.

Some potential ideas:

• Signing Nathan Eovaldi. He’s a veteran with two World Series rings. This one seems like an obvious fit, but his price might be driven up by other suitors.
• Trading for Arizona starter Jordan Montgomery, who opted into $22.5 million for 2025 but might be a trade candidate given his situation. General manager Mike Hazen had to smooth things over with Montgomery after Arizona owner Ken Kendrick took responsibility for the signing and called it a “horrible decision” in a radio interview in Arizona after the season. Montgomery is a bulldog veteran.
• Signing Jack Flaherty, who doesn’t have a qualifying offer attached to him. This means the Braves wouldn’t forfeit a draft pick for signing him. (The same is the case for Eovaldi.)
• Trading for Kevin Gausman, the former Brave whose stuff seemingly experienced a downturn in 2024. The Braves, though, do well at getting the most out of guys. They also know Gausman.
• Walker Buehler has had a tumultuous past couple of years because of injury, but proved his mettle in the postseason. The competitor is still in there, it seems. He might not land a huge deal and thus could be a good project for the Braves. He’s a Kentucky native who went to Vanderbilt.
• Signing Shane Bieber, the former Cleveland ace who’ll miss a significant chunk of 2025 because of undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. In theory, this would work because the Braves could capitalize on a potentially weak market given Bieber likely won’t be ready for opening day. But Strider is in the same boat, so this might defeat the purpose of the Braves bringing in a starter.

But if you follow the Braves, you know this: Trying to predict an Anthopoulos move is like throwing darts at a board while blindfolded and spinning around. Check back in January.

The only guarantee (we think) is that the Braves need one starter. They have four rotation locks if you count Strider. They need their fifth guy — and they can really strengthen their team by making it a quality addition and not a bargain buy.

The Braves will be guided this offseason, as Anthopoulos said in GM speak, by simply trying to make the team better.

They know they will enter 2025 with lofty expectations — again. It comes with the territory for a club that has gone to the postseason in seven consecutive seasons and won a World Series in that span.

“That means that we’re doing things well, we’re performing, we have a talented club that people are expecting to go deep into October,” Anthopoulos said. “Those are all positive things. But look, every year is unique, every postseason is unique, and you’re always going to look back and try to learn from it. But you’ve gotta get there first. And that’s always the goal — ideally through the division, but if not the division, through the wild card.