Schwellenbach's '24 wasn't just good. It was historic

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Spencer Schwellenbach began last season at the High-A level, made his MLB debut less than two months later and then spent the summer living a dream that materialized quicker than anyone could have imagined just three years earlier, when the Braves pitcher was the University of Nebraska¡¯s shortstop.

¡°I¡¯d go home for the first two or three weeks I was in [the Majors], and I¡¯d tell my wife, ¡®This is unreal, this is everything I¡¯ve dreamed of, and I¡¯m just so happy,¡¯¡± Schwellenbach said.

Unreal? Why? Was it because Schwellenbach established himself as one of MLB¡¯s top young pitchers, despite his only previous post-high school pitching experience consisting of 18 appearances as Nebraska¡¯s closer and 110 innings in the Minors? It should be noted that most of those Minor League innings were completed as he made his way back from the Tommy John surgery he underwent after being selected in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft. And just 13 of those innings were completed above the High-A level.

¡°He was something else with what he accomplished,¡± Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

Schwellenbach posted a 3.35 ERA over the 21 starts (123 2/3 innings) he made after getting his surprise call to the Majors on May 29. The only rookies who totaled 120-plus innings and produced a better ERA last year were Paul Skenes (1.96), Shota Imanga (2.91) and Tobias Myers (3.00).

What makes Schwellenbach unique is his lack of previous professional experience. Since 1995, here is the short list of pitchers who have posted a 3.35 ERA or better over 20-plus starts during a debut season that was preceded by the pitcher totaling 110 innings or fewer in the Minors:

Skenes (2024), Schwellenbach (2024), Imanaga (2024), Kodai Senga (2023), Alek Manoah (2021), Masahiro Tanaka (2014), Hyun Jin Ryu (2013), Orlando Hernandez (1998) and Hideo Nomo (1995).

Spencer Strider posted a 2.67 ERA over 31 appearances (20 starts) during his rookie season. His Minor League career consisted of just 94 innings. So, he would have been part of this list had he not debuted the previous season with two relief appearances during the regular season¡¯s final weekend.

Schwellenbach, Skenes and Manoah are the only members of the above list who reached the Majors without any previous international professional experience. Imanaga, Senga, Tanaka, Ryu and Nomo all pitched at least seven seasons in Asia before coming to the United States. Hernandez pitched in Cuba until he joined the Yankees organization at 32 years old.

¡°[Schwellenbach] did a phenomenal job last year,¡± Braves center fielder Michael Harris II said. ¡°It was kind of like with Strider when he came in his rookie year. I guess it¡¯s something about the Spencers.¡±

The Braves have something special in the Spencers that will fill their rotations over the next few years. Strider, who could return from elbow surgery in late April, established himself as baseball¡¯s top strikeout artist by primarily using his fastball and slider. Schwellenbach¡¯s arsenal is more diverse.

In fact, Schwellenbach¡¯s repertoire was one of the most successfully diverse the baseball world has seen over the past two decades. The 24-year-old hurler recorded a positive run value with five different pitches last year -- 4-seam fastball (+1), slider (+2), cutter (+3), curveball (+2) and split-finger (+3). His sinker had a run value of 0.

How rare is this? Well, this marked just the 30th time during the pitch-tracking era (since 2008) that a pitcher recorded a positive run value with at least five different pitch types (min. 240 pitches each) in one season.

2024
Seth Lugo (six different pitches)
Spencer Schwellenbach
Jameson Taillon

2023
Sonny Gray

2022
Max Fried
Brandon Woodruff

2021
Luis Garcia
Max Scherzer
Brandon Woodruff

2020
N/A

2019
Mike Fiers
Hyun Jin Ryu

2018
Jacob deGrom

2016
Johnny Cueto
Noah Syndergaard

2015
Matt Harvey
David Price

2014
David Price

2012
F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez
David Price
Jered Weaver

2011
Cliff Lee
Shaun Marcum
James Shields
Jered Weaver

2010
Jaime Garc¨ªa
F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez
Ubaldo Jim¨¦nez
Jered Weaver

2009
Dan Haren
F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez

Hern¨¢ndez, Weaver and Price all appear on this list three times. Woodruff¡¯s name appeared twice. So, Schwellenbach is one of just 23 different pitchers to do this over the past 17 seasons. Jaime Garc¨ªa and Luis Garcia were the only other rookie pitchers to do this within this span.

Schwellenbach accomplished all of this while combining to throw 168 2/3 innings between the Minor and Major League levels last year. That was 103 2/3 innings more than he had completed in his only previous professional season.

But he completed his impressive rookie season in fitting fashion, limiting the Mets to one run and four hits over seven innings on the regular season¡¯s final day.

¡°The whole thing is pretty impressive, how he handles his whole game,¡± Snitker said.