Obviously the start of the 2025 season for the Atlanta Braves' season has a nightmare. No one thought that beginning the season with a west coast road trip against the Padres and Dodgers was going to be easy, but going 0-7 and looking like a bottom-dwelling team in the process was not on anyone's bingo cards.
Compounding the problem was that the Braves' issues were widespread. Starters were putting together underwhelming performances, the bullpen couldn't keep games close, and the offense had little to hang their hat on. All of sudden, the idea that Atlanta could make a deep playoff run in 2025 seemed almost laughable.
Fortunately, the Braves got back on track with a convincing victory over the Marlins on Friday. While the offense waking up is the most obvious takeaway, it was Spencer Schwellenbach's dominant start that may have ultimately saved Atlanta from their brutal early season death spiral.
12 up, 12 down for Spencer Schwellenbach tonight!
— MLB (@MLB) April 5, 2025
He's struck out five of the last six batters he's faced. 😤 pic.twitter.com/9h7Y8S5dzl
Spencer Schwellenbach's dominant start should allow for Braves to do a complete reset
One shouldn't overlook the fact that the Braves showed out at the plate against Miami. Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson homered, six different Braves hitters had multi-hit games, and the end result was a 10 run outburst that felt like an exorcism of Atlanta's early season demons. It was just one game, but it was still welcome relief from one of the worst weeks of Braves baseball in a long time.
However, it was Schwellenbach's outing that may end up having an even larger impact on Atlanta's fortunes as he gave up just two hits and ZERO walks while striking out 10 Marlins batters. More importantly, he gave the Braves eight innings on the mound and that is where Atlanta could gain the most.
Thanks to Schwellenbach, the Braves were able to rest the vast majority of their beleaguered bullpen that had gotten rocked over the season's first week. While it is unclear how productive the unit can be with the extra rest, most agree that a early reset certainly can't hurt the Braves' cause and Schwellenbach gave them just that. Those first seven games certainly still count at the end of the year, but Atlanta now has a chance to regroup and rewrite the narrative.
There are a lot of unanswered questions around the Braves right now. Will the bullpen actually improve? Can the offense reclaim their former glory? Will the returns of Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. be enough to make Atlanta a real 2025 contender again? We don't know how things will play out, but Schwellenbach's stellar start at least gave the Braves the chance to answer them instead of threatening to end their season before it really got started.