At first glance, you would think that Hurston Waldrep did more than enough to warrant the Atlanta Braves giving him a rotation spot right out of spring training. Once Waldrep was pressed into service during the summer to deal with a doubleheader, he never looked back and posted a much-needed 2.88 ERA across 10 appearances and 56.1 innings. However, Waldrep's place in the Braves' rotation appears to be anything but certain.
In his pre-Winter Meetings breakdown for the Braves, insider Mark Bowman revealed that while Waldrep may be deserving of a rotation spot on merit, a lack of minor league options with some of Atlanta's other depth pitching options.
Hurston Waldrep could be on outside looking in at the start of 2026 because of rotation's lack of minor league options
So here is the problem when it comes to Waldrep. Yes, he pitched extremely well in the second half last year and yes, the Braves need rotation help. However, what Atlanta actually desires is rotation depth. They technically have enough starters to start the 2026 season, but the Braves' recent injury issues has put a spotlight on their backup plans which are somewhat limited in number.
Where Waldrep comes in here has to do with minor league options. The Braves elected to bring back Joey Wentz and Bryce Elder, which you would think means that Atlanta plans on using them. The issue is that both players currently occupy rotation spots and neither player has any minor league options left. Given that Atlanta already made the choice to keep them and knowing that they can't just stash either player in the minors without risk of losing them, one does wonder if Atlanta could opt for quantity at the start of the season and put Waldrep in the minors thanks to having minor league options to play with.
Of course, there are a number of factors in play here. Waldrep is still not a finished product and we don't really know the health status of Grant Holmes and Reynaldo Lopez heading into 2026. If Holmes and/or Lopez are not ready or get shifted to the bullpen, Waldrep's path to playing time becomes much more clear.
In an ideal world, merit would be the only consideration and Waldrep would get slotted right in the Braves' rotation. However, we have seen Alex Anthopoulos opt to preserve players who are out of options in the past and it could easily be what they do next season especially if they add a free agent starter.