Atlanta’s number one starter should add “All-Star” to his resume after another outstanding week.
A week that started out with such promise after two wins in New York, ended with the Braves dropping four of their next five games, featuring an offense that is proving to be one of the worst in the National League.
Maybe this is who the 2025 Atlanta Braves are. If so, that sucks.
But you know who doesn’t suck? Spencer Schwellenbach, who returns to the pole position as this week’s Battery Power Braves Player of the Week.
Schwellenbach and fellow starting pitcher Spencer Strider had excellent weeks. Ronald Acuña, Jr. and Sean Murphy both had a couple of nice games and Matt Olson’s on-base streak has reached 30 games.
But outside of that, and some nice work from a few members of the team’s bullpen, there wasn’t much to hang one’s hat on in the last week of June.
Battery Power Braves Player of the Week: Spencer Schwellenbach.
Spencer Schwellenbach took the bump for the Braves twice this week and authored a good start and a great start, going seven innings in both games while allowing only seven total hits.
Monday, against the New York Mets, Schwellenbach allowed two earned runs while striking out four and issuing a single walk. Of the four hits he allowed, one was a home run, but his 89 pitches led the Braves to a win in the first game of the series.
His second start of the week – Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies – was as good as one could ask for as he allowed only one run, three hits and one walk while striking out a career-high 12 batters in his 90-pitch outing. The Braves earned their only victory in the series.
For the week, Schwellenbach tossed 14 innings, allowing only seven hits, two walks and three runs while striking out 16. He picked up two wins, to bring his record to 7-4, which doesn’t mean much but might help build his All-Star resume out further.
For the season, he now has accrued 2.3 fWAR with a 2.90 xFIP against a 3.21 FIP. He’s striking out 24.9-percent of batters while walking only 4.1-percent while using a six-pitch arsenal.
With Chris Sale out of action for the foreseeable future with his rib cage fracture, Schwellenbach is now the anchor of the team’s rotation.
This week he pitched every bit like the ace he is becoming.