No baseball GM has ever said they had too much pitching in their organization. Even the mighty L.A. Dodgers made it a point to acquire as many pitchers as possible heading into 2025. That strategy paid off for Los Angeles, as they successfully navigated the marathon regular season and entered October with numerous impact arms healthy.
Learning from recent success is important in baseball, but perhaps even more important is the ability to learn from past failures. The Atlanta Braves have a clear need for starting pitching on their roster, and a previous mistake could serve as an important reminder of why no team can ever truly have enough quality arms.
Forgotten Brave Cole Hamels serves as a great reminder that you can never have enough pitching
While most admit the Braves need another starting pitcher, some believe that Hurston Waldrep, JR Ritchie, and other promising prospects are enough to round out a quality Braves rotation. However, this method of reasoning is very flawed, and you need to look no further than last season to see how quickly pitching injuries can stack up on a team.
Additionally, Braves fans have prior evidence to support this theory. Back in December 2019, Atlanta signed Cole Hamels to a one-year, $18 million contract. Hamels was expected to guide Atlanta’s young pitchers, Max Fried and Mike Soroka, and help stabilize the middle of the rotation. Instead, the Braves got just 3.1 innings from the former Phillies ace and were left with a host of question marks surrounding their rotation as they entered the postseason.
Alex Anthopoulos has been very active this winter, but adding a starting pitcher is the one thing he has yet to accomplish. Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, and a 2026 bounce back from Spencer Strider all sound great on paper, but that isn't something you should count on happening. Reynaldo Lopez, Grant Holmes, and Hurston Waldrep have shown flashes of being trustworthy starters, but again it isn't something Anthopoulos should take as an absolute.
That is why we are advocating heavily for Anthopoulos to go add another starting pitcher this winter. Luckily, plenty of quality free agents remain on the market. Among the big free agents, only Dylan Cease and Michael King have inked deals so far this offseason. Ranger Suarez, Framber Valdez, and Zac Gallen all are still available as we enter the second week of January.
If Anthopoulos is truly attached to Atlanta’s PPI pick, then pitchers like Chris Bassitt, Lucas Giolito, and Zack Littell offer lower-cost, durable options. No matter which aisle Anthopoulos chooses to shop in, it is important that he reaches the checkout counter with at least one item in the cart. All he has to do is look back at the Cole Hamels mistake as motivation to over-deliver on the need for starting pitching.