Spencer Schwellenbach shows promise but Braves fall to Nationals

Spencer Schwellenbach showed some promise, and Matt Olson had two double. But, the Braves could not string together enough offense to counter the Nationals attack.

The Atlanta Braves, fresh off of a masterclass shutout win from Max Fried, took on the Washington Nationals tonight where the big storyline was the MLB debut of Spencer Schwellenbach.

Schwellenbach is currently ranked as Atlanta’s number three prospect and has only pitched two games at the AA level before being called up. He tore through the minors and had a 1.80 ERA so far this year between two levels.

The game started off well for Schwellenbach. He was able to get his first career strikeout on the second batter he faced when Lane Thomas struck out on his nasty slider that hit the dirt but still induced a swing.

He was able to go three-up-three down in his first career inning in MLB. He was a little shaky in his second inning. Luis Garcia led off the second with a single, in which he was able to make it all the way to third due to an error from the often sure gloved Adam Duvall. After two outs he walked Nick Senzel (who left the game right afterwards due to injury) to put runners on the corners. Fortunately, he was able to get the swing happy Joey Gallo to strike out on a called strike three on a four-seamer almost right down the middle.

Schwellenbach started off the third inning strong with a groundout, followed by a strikeout to rising star CJ Abrams, but Lane Thomas got revenge and hit a double. With Thomas on second, Schwellenbach came through and was able to get former All-Star Jesse Winker to pop up to end the inning with no damage done.

The fourth inning was far from clean as Schwellenbach gave up a double, but he was able to get out of the inning with a flyout, groundout, and lineout respectively. Interestingly he was left in the game after this inning when he averages just over four and a half innings in his short minors career. Nevertheless, he was left in.

The fifth inning was not as kind to Schwellenbach. Joey Gallo led off the inning with a double and right after that there was a scary hit-by-pitch to Jacob Young’s helmet area. This put two runners on with zero outs. Schwellenbach responded with a strikeout to CJ Abrams yet again, but Lane Thomas took him deep on a two-strike pitch for a three-run HR to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead. To his credit, Schwellenbach was able to gain his composure and finish out the inning by striking out Winker and getting Garcia to ground out. He also made a really good play on the ground ball, showing how he used to be a shortstop in college for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Aaron Bummer relieved Schwellenbach in the sixth. Schwellenbach ended his debut with 5.0 innings pitched, five strikeouts, one walk, five hits, and three earned runs. His off-speed pitches looked nasty and it would not be surprising if he gets another shot soon. Bummer looked to have a solid inning as he sat down his first hitter with relative ease. However, Eddie Rosario came through with a single, followed by another single to put the runners on the corners. Vargas was able to steal second and then after Gallo struck out swinging Jacob Young knocked in two runs on what looked like a half swing effort that fell for a bloop single making the score 5-1.

A.J. Minter came in to relieve Bummer in the seventh and it was yet another shaky inning for this Braves pitching staff. After Abrams struck out for a third time, Minter walked Thomas followed by a single to Winker. After a mound visit he was able to settle down and retire the next two hitters with no damage done.

Dylan Lee came in to start the eighth inning. He gave up a single to Eddie Rosario, but was able to get Vargas to ground into a double play. Gallo was able to make it to first on a weird soft bunt to the pitcher, but Lee finished off the inning when Jacob Young grounded out to Austin Riley.

Pierce Johnson came in to pitch the ninth, and it was not pretty. He did lead off the inning by striking out CJ Abrams, making it Abram’s fourth K of the night. But, after that it went downhill. Thomas yet again was able to get on base when he hit a single. He then stole second and third. Johnson then walked Winker to put runners on the corners with one out. Winker then stole second base. Johnson struck out Garcia, but then Keibert Ruiz singled Thomas and Winker. Ruiz then followed that up with a steal of his own. Rosario then flied out to end the Nationals night of successful offense.

The Braves’ pitching staff ended the night giving up thirteen hits, three walks, nine strikeouts and and seven earned runs. The Nationals were also able to secure five stolen bases.

Unfortunately for the Braves offense, it appears that MacKenzie Gore largely dominating them in limited action in the past did not appear to be a fluke. Ozzie Albies had been successful against him in the past and led off the first inning with a double, but then Gore struck out the next three hitters swinging in order to end the inning, stranding Albies.

The second inning was not much better. Michael Harris was able to get a single, but Gore sat down the other three hitters in the inning with relative ease. The third inning was a little better. After Kelenic struck out, Ozzie Albies came through with another hit, this time a single. Riley was able to get on base due to an error from CJ Abrams (poor guy had a rough night) to put runners on first and second with one out. Ozuna came through with a single that scored Albies to make the score 1-0 at that point. The rally was ended when Matt Olson grounded into a double play.

Gore did not let the potential rally slow him down. In the bottom of the fourth he struck out the side when he faced d’Arnaud, Duvall, and Harris. Gore stayed in to pitch the fifth and yet again when three-up-three down. Albies almost had another hit, but Lane Thomas came in for a spectacular diving catch to rob Albies and end the inning.

The Braves looked to get a rally going in the sixth when Riley led off the inning with a single off of Gore, and after Ozuna struck out, Olson hit a groundball down the third base line where he hustled into a sliding double that put Riley on third. Dylan Floro then replaced Gore with one out and runners on second and third. d’Arnaud was able to knock in a run when he hit a soft enough grounder to first base, making the score 2-5. The Rally then ended when Duvall grounded out, stranding Olson on third.

Robert Garcia came in to face the Braves in the seventh and was able sit down the first two hitters before Kelenic had a single. Garcia was then replaced by Hunter Harvey who was able to strike out Ozzie Albies to end the inning. Harvey stayed in the game in the eighth. Olson was able to get a double off of him with two outs, but then d’Arnaud struck out swinging to end the chance of chipping away at the lead. Finally, in the ninth the Braves’ offense looked anemic yet again as Jordan Weems was able to get finish them off seeing the minimum number of hitters.

In the 2-7 loss, the Braves’ offense struck out thirteen times, leaving six runners on basing and being 1-8 with RISP.

The Braves offense has seriously struggled as of late. To be fair, they are eighth in MLB in wRC+, but it is a far cry from what it was last season in which they led MLB in runs by a large margin.

The Braves will finish out the four game series against the Nationals tomorrow, hoping to come out of it with a split.