In spring training, Travis d’Arnaud first met Spencer Schwellenbach. The two high-fived one another when Schwellenbach was in the bullpen one day. At the end of camp, d’Arnaud headed north and Schwellenbach went to High-A Rome.
A couple months later, on the night of May 28, d’Arnaud and other Braves received news: The club would be calling up Schwellenbach for his major-league debut the next day. D’Arnaud knew he had scouting to do in preparation for Schwellenbach’s start against the Nationals.
As d’Arnaud recalls all of this, the Braves have just beaten the Mets, 5-1, behind Schwellenbach’s stellar start in a must-win game. As incredible as the right-hander pitched on Tuesday, it’s simply a continuation of what he’s done since the Braves promoted him.
“Wow, it’s impressive,” d’Arnaud says. “To be that young, only been pitching for a couple years – to be that poised. He’s always under control. He’s always calm, and I think that’s just his personality and who he is.”
The backdrop of Tuesday night: The Braves entered this series trailing the Mets by two games for the third and final wild-card spot. If Atlanta loses this series, its season could be on life support. The Braves control their own destiny because they’re playing the team in front of them.
In these circumstances, Schwellenbach held the Mets to a run over seven innings in front of a sellout crowd of 40,103 at Truist Park. He kept them scoreless until a solo home run in the seventh inning. He allowed only three hits. He walked one and struck out four.
In two starts against the Mets, Schwellenbach has given up one run over 14 innings. You might remember his other outing against them: In late July, his seven scoreless innings helped the Braves snap a six-game losing streak.
This game was more important.
He passed the test – again.
When Schwellenbach walked off the mound, the crowd gave him a well-deserved standing ovation. He went down the dugout steps and past manager Brian Snitker, who had a simple message. “Great job again,” Snitker said of what he told Schwellenbach.
“He’s kind of getting like one of those guys that’s not gonna surprise me ever,” the manager said after the game.
And why wouldn’t he be?
In every big game, Schwellenbach has come through. Every time the Braves have needed him, he’s answered.
The context: Against teams currently in the postseason picture – in both leagues – he’s allowed 12 earned runs in 57 1/3 innings. That’s a 1.88 ERA across those nine starts.
“I mean, the juices were definitely flowing,” Schwellenbach said of his latest start. “We got five more games left and need every single one of them. This is basically the playoffs, starting now, for us. We need wins and that’s what we did tonight.”
The Braves’ win pulled them within a half-game of Arizona for the third National League wild-card spot and a game behind the Mets for the second wild-card slot.
The Braves wouldn’t be here without Schwellenbach, whose impressive demeanor has led to confidence against the best this sport has to offer. It doesn’t matter that he only began pitching in college, or that he began this season in High A, or that he’s logged more innings this season (161 2/3 between the minors and majors) than at any point in his baseball life.
He is Spencer Schwellenbach, and he expects to do well. He has always been confident – as he’s said many times. And this has stood out.
“Very impressed,” d’Arnaud said. “Especially in a big moment when we’re down two (games), to make it to the playoffs, against a team that’s ahead of us, (in front of) a sold-out crowd – to just stay calm and just be him the whole time, it’s pretty special. He’s got nerves of steel.”
How does he stay mentally fresh between starts?
“I’ve got my fiancée at home that keeps my mind off of baseball, I guess,” Schwellenbach said. “And then I come to the field and we got a really good group of guys here. It makes it easy to just go out and play. There’s less pressure. Even though the situation might seem like there’s more, it’s just baseball. It’s a game that I love and there’s nothing more that I want than to go out and pitch against a good team.”
He lives for these games. That much has become clear. Big contest? Important week? Season on the line?
Give it to Schwellenbach.
“Well, he’s had a few (big starts) this year and he’s passed all the tests,” Snitker said before Tuesday’s game. “He’s went up against the Phillies, the Red Sox, the Dodgers – all those kind of teams with the real dangerous lineups – and it hasn’t seemed to affect him. He’s just like everybody else: He’s gotta make his pitches. And it’s a really good hitting club. This team’s playing as good as anybody right now. It’ll be a tough assignment, but he’s seemed to be able to handle all that so far.”
He aced the assignment. And because of it, the Braves are closer to October.
A couple years ago, Michael Harris II met Schwellenbach at the Braves’ spring training complex. Harris always likes to go to the minor-league side here and there to hang with some of the guys.
“I knew he was really athletic,” Harris said. “I would always hear about the numbers he puts up, like his jumping and his speed work. I always knew about him, and I think I talked to him a few times.”
Harris remembers watching video of Schwellenbach at Rome this season. Soon enough, they became teammates because the Braves needed a starting pitcher and gave Schwellenbach a start. It appears they’ll be teammates for a long time.
On the night before Schwellenbach debuted, d’Arnaud began studying his new pitcher and noticed something.
“I think that he was able to throw strikes,” the catcher said of what stood out then. “And then since he’s been here, he’s learned how to throw balls, if that makes sense. Like, you don’t always need to throw it down the middle. There are some guys that are super aggressive, there are some guys that are super patient. There’s all sorts of different types of hitters, so I think being a strike-thrower early on is important so you don’t fall behind – because any numbers show when you’re ahead versus behind a hitter, the numbers are way different.”
This season, Schwellenbach has struck out 122 batters and walked only 23. Since 1900, his 5.30 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the sixth-highest among rookies with as many major-league innings (116 2/3 frames).
Those 122 strikeouts are the most by a Brave through his first 20 career appearances. Schwellenbach passed Brandon Beachy (2010-11) and Ian Anderson (2020-21), who each fanned 120 in that span to start their careers.
Harris chuckled when asked about Schwellenbach’s dominance as a rookie. In high school, Harris was a pitcher but wanted to hit and was drafted as a center fielder. Schwellenbach took the opposite route. He was a shortstop in college at Nebraska before he began pitching.
And now, he’s helped save the Braves’ season.
“I guess it’s not the easiest (transition from playing the field to pitching), but to come out and do what he’s doing in a game like this tonight kind of shows his poise and the dog in him,” Harris said.
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