Braves Schwellenbach Agrees With Take From Braves Legendary Pitcher

The Atlanta Braves righty acknowledged that he's still honing in a couple skills following a critique from a team legend and fan of Schwellenbach

A couple skills could make an already great pitcher into a even greater one | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Spencer Schwellenbach had a roller coaster outing for the Atlanta Braves in the 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday. He pitched seven innings allowing four runs, two earned, and allowed two home runs while striking out 11. 

We saw some of the best of him this year while also seeing one of his killers this season, the long ball. He’s allowed nine home runs in 11 starts this season. 

Following the game, he was asked about a critique from Braves legendary starter, Tom Glavine, who is a fan of Schwellenbach. Glavine indicated that Schwellenbach throws too many strikes. It sounds funny at first, but not all strikes are necessarily good pitches. Sometimes a pitch in the dirt or just off the plate is strategic. The pointer is fully intended and is perceived as constructive criticism.

Schwellenbach said he thought the idea of throwing too many strikes made total sense. 

“That’s where I got in trouble early in my career last year was throwing too many strikes,” he said. “Getting two strikes early and not bouncing the pitch when it needs to be bounced or elevating it when it needs to be elevated.”

Schwellenbach acknowledged too that one of the reasons he succeeds is because he throws strikes consistently. However, he knows he still has something to learn when executing pitches. 

Manager Brian Snitker said that type of skill will come in time for Schwellenbach - using a different Braves legend in his example. 

“I don’t think John Smoltz, at his age, when he burst on the scene, did that until he pitched a bunch of innings. I think it comes with seasoning and innings and repetition. I don’t think it’s as easy to bounce a breaking ball as some guys make it look.”

It’s a reminder of how early the 24-year-old sophomore righty is into his career. He put himself on the map so quickly that we forget he’s made 32 career starts. He’s just starting to experience those ups and downs and he’s going to learn and make adjustments to find that long-term effectiveness and consistency. 

To this point, he’s done all right for himself, even if there’s work to be done. In those 32 starts, he has a 3.38 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and a 122 ERA+.