Is it too early to disregard any worries of a sophomore slump for Spencer Schwellenbach? The Atlanta Braves look to have a budding ace in the 24 year-old former Cornhusker. There hasn't been a ton to cheer about for Braves fans yet in 2025, but Schwellenbach's early dominance has been really fun to watch. Unfortunately, his rookie campaign in 2024 flew a bit under the radar because of other National League rookie sensations like Paul Skenes, Jackson Chourio, and Jackson Merrill.
However, Schwellenbach is quickly proving he is no slouch himself, and just might be the best pitcher on the Braves staff. Schwellenbach has gotten off to a very impressive start in 2025, so much so that he's beginning to get some buzz around the national circuit.
In the latest NL Cy Young award odds from BetMGM, Schwellenbach saw one of the biggest jumps amongst major leaguers. Schwellenbach opened the season as a fringe top-15 guy with +2500 odds to win the NL Cy Young. After a couple brilliant starts to open his sophomore campaign, Schwellenbach jumped to +900 odds for NL Cy Young, the third best odds behind only Paul Skenes and Zack Wheeler who were overwhelming preseason favorites.
Paul Skenes (+150) and Zack Wheeler (+450) remain the clear NL Cy Young favorites.
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) April 7, 2025
But one player has made a massive jump from +2500 to the 3rd-best odds at +900 this week at @BetMGM:
Spencer Schwellenbach👀 pic.twitter.com/0sAgUJDnDf
Schwellenbach looks poised to anchor Braves staff in 2025
We're just two starts into the season for Spencer Schwellenbach, but those two outings have been really impressive stuff from the young righty. Schwellenbach is yet to allow a run this season, and currently owns a 1.50 FIP and 14:1 K:BB. On top of that he leads Major League Baseball with a ridiculous 0.286 WHIP. Teams aren't even sniffing rallies against him, let alone scoring runs.
Schwellenbach's ascension couldn't have come at a better time for Atlanta, who need someone to step up in the absence of Reynaldo Lopez. Schwelly has everything you want in a frontline pitcher. His six-pitch mix and ability to throw all his pitches for strikes has led to a lot of hitters struggling to generate hard contact against him. It's why he has yet to surrender an extra-base hit yet this season, hitters just can't barrel him up.
So long as Schwellenbach can stay healthy and continues to pitch like this making his first All-Star game certainly feels obtainable. From there we can assess just how closely he stacks up against proven aces like Zack Wheeler, Paul Skenes, and Logan Webb. It's an early storyline to see a jump in Cy Young odds of this magnitude, but it's a spike that may end up being warranted should Schwellenbach continue to shove like this.