ATLANTA -- Spencer Schwellenbach¡¯s dominance against MLB¡¯s top teams has heightened expectations that he will stand as a legit National League Cy Young Award candidate at the end of this season, which is just his third at the professional level.
Schwellenbach extended his success against the game¡¯s elite as he allowed just one run over the six innings that were played before the Braves waited through a two-hour, 45 minute rain delay in their 4-2, 11-inning win over the Phillies on Thursday night at Truist Park.
Austin Riley scored Ozzie Albies with a double to begin the 11th and then scored when Marcell Ozuna ended the game with a home run at 12:54 a.m. ET. The late contributions preserved Schwellenbach¡¯s strong start and helped the 3-9 Braves win their first series of the year.
¡°We needed that for sure,¡± Schwellenbach said. ¡°To be able to win a 1 a.m. game like that was pretty cool.¡±
Schwellenbach has spent this season¡¯s first few weeks proving his unanticipated rise to the Majors and near-instant stardom last year wasn¡¯t a fluke. He opened this season with six scoreless innings against the Padres and then matched that line against the Marlins.
His season-opening scoreless streak reached 16 innings before Kyle Schwarber hit a two-out solo homer in Thursday¡¯s third inning. This was the longest such streak by an Atlanta pitcher since Paul Maholm opened the 2013 season with 25 1/3 scoreless innings.
This wasn¡¯t the first time the Phillies were quieted by Schwellenbach. In fact, this marked the third time in four matchups the Braves hurler has limited them to two runs or less over at least six innings. The other? He allowed two runs over just 5 2/3 innings.
¡°He¡¯s pitched against the best offenses in the game and he just goes after them,¡± Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ¡°It¡¯s really impressive what he¡¯s done in a short time.¡±
Schwellenbach has a 2.21 ERA over the 24 1/3 innings he has totaled against the Phillies. He has an 0.86 ERA in three career starts (21 innings) against the Mets. The Padres have scored just one earned run in their two matchups (13 innings) against him and the Dodgers were limited to two runs over six innings.
Maybe it¡¯s even more impressive to point out this equates to a 1.54 ERA in the 10 combined starts made against these four 2024 NL playoff teams.
¡°It just shows the kind of pitcher he is and how much he wants the ball against those top teams,¡± Braves center fielder Michael Harris II said. ¡°He goes up there and delivers every time.¡±
Schwellenbach¡¯s eye-opening numbers become even more impressive when you remember he didn¡¯t even pitch at Nebraska until the 2021 season, when he was used as a shortstop/closer. He recovered from Tommy John surgery in 2022, was introduced to a starting role and professional competition in 2023, and then shot from High-A to the Majors in less than two months last year.
This latest outing ended with Schwellenbach showing why many believe he will win multiple Gold Glove Awards. He quickly moved to the third-base side of the mound to field an Alec Bohm comebacker while simultaneously turning to throw an off-balance strong strike to Ozzie Albies, who threw to first to complete a sixth inning-ending double play.
¡°That play was unbelievable,¡± Snitker said. ¡°He¡¯s going to have some Gold Gloves in his trophy room too.¡±
Braves veteran Chris Sale won both the Gold Glove and Cy Young Awards last year. Schwellenbach isn¡¯t saying anything about the latter honor. But has he told Sale about his intent to win the Gold Glove this year?
¡°Oh, he knows,¡± Schwellenbach said with a smile.