Braves Legend Leo Mazzone Goes Scorched Earth on Modern Pitching

The Atlanta Braves have been crushed by injuries over their first week and a half of spring training, losing both Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep due to arm surgeries.

Former Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone joined The Bill Shanks Show on Sports Radio 93.1 in Macon to discuss how pitchers are pushed beyond their limits early in their careers and how it has impacted the Braves’ rotation. The legendary coach went scorched earth on the state of the sport and how they address the arms of their pitchers.

Former #Braves Pitching Coach Leo Mazzone: "I know what works and I know what keeps pitchers healthy. And what they're doing now absolutely does not at all levels of baseball."

Join The Bill Shanks Show weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on https://t.co/fugmeKhVlg pic.twitter.com/ZgW3phBjSE
— BillShanks (@BillShanks) February 20, 2026

“It’s disheartening, but it doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “It’s not only the Braves, but it’s the entire baseball world that’s going to go through all this.”

Mazzone highlighted how Schwellenbach fractured his elbow in June after elevating his velocity, and how it really is not that complicated why he got hurt.

“That’s what caused it!” Mazzone exclaimed. “If we had a pitcher, and I said, ‘I want you to throw as hard as you can in the bullpen,’ they would look at me like I was nuts. Now they don’t know anything different because that’s all they're told when they’re younger. If you’re going to do that, then that’s an absolute joke, because who really cares if you hit 99 miles per hour in a bullpen session? Who cares? Nobody. But then, when your arm blows, it’s all what happened? What happened? Well, you just answered your own question.”

The legendary pitching coach crushed the training that young pitchers who are coming up through the youth ranks have to go through.

“It’s disheartening,” he said. “And it’s not going to go away as long as the people who are in charge of youth baseball – travel baseball, minor leagues, big leagues, whoever’s in charge, and they continue to push pitchers to however hard they can throw. The training that they do when they’re 12 and 13, their bodies are not ready for. Why don’t you just practice making your pitches at 60 feet and six inches, going downhill to a catcher? Is there something that would be wrong with that?

What happens next for the Atlanta Braves? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Braves news delivered to your inbox daily!

“I get upset about it. I really do. Because I know what works and what keeps pitchers healthy. What they’re doing now absolutely does not, at all levels of baseball. It’s pitching. It’s teaching pitching, not looking at a damn computer.”

Mazzone worked with the Braves from 1979 to 2005, with his staff proving to be the anchor of the best runs in baseball history. While the Braves were winning their 14 consecutive division titles (1991-2005, the longest streak in American professional sports), his staff won six Cy Young Awards between 1991 and 1998.

Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and John Smoltz were all inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but several other pitchers enjoyed their best seasons under Mazzone’s coaching. He was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in 2022.