Both Schwellenbach, 25, and Waldrep, 23, were known to have issues with the elbows before today's announcement, so Braves fans may not be freaking out as much as it would seem from the outside. Still, each young righty was outstanding in a partial big league season in 2025, and was expected to be a major contributor this year to a very good Braves team.
Earlier this year, April 16 to be specific, Spencer Strider made a long-awaited return to the mound after missing nearly the entirety of the 2024 season due to surgery on his elbow. Considering how poor of a start the Braves got off to in 2025, his return was truly a sight for sore eyes and the obvious hope was that his return was the catalyst to help revive both the pitching staff's and the team's fortunes as well.
The 31-year-old star is coming off a year in which he hit .267/.346/.466 in 160 games with a 129 wRC+ that ranked fifth among qualified shortstops. Lindor hit 31 home runs and scored 117 runs in 2025, which more or less matched his totals from 2024, while slightly cutting his strikeout rate to 17.9% and bumping his walk rate to 8.9%. He also remained a threat on the basepaths, matching his career high with 31 stolen bases.
Former New York Mets pitcher and Long Island native Steven Matz had to wait quite a long time to see the mound in a postseason game 10 years to be exact. The East Setaucket native, once a starter, now turned reliever with the Boston Red Sox, pitched an inning between the fourth and fifth frames in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx.
That should help facilitate a return to catching in 2026, and Jones wrote for MLB.com yesterday that Herrera has spoken with manager Oli Marmol and incoming president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom to work out a plan for an offseason program designed to get him ready to return to catching next year. Jones adds that the club's plan for Herrera's offseason was created with the knowledge of the youngster's impending surgery and with plans on how to incorporate his rehab into his winter assignments.
Cubs prospect Brandon Birdsell, one of the top young arms in the system, will undergo surgery on his right elbow this week, assistant general manager Jared Banner announced yesterday ( link via Janie McCauley of the Associated Press). Banner didn't provide specifics regarding the injury, noting only that the procedure will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister - one of the industry's most prominent orthopedic surgeons - and that more information will be known following the procedure.
