PITTSBURGH -- The Braves’ rotation is hanging together by duct tape and hope, and Hurston Waldrep is right in the middle of it.
After Waldrep got tagged for two of Ryan O’Hearn’s three home runs in Tuesday night’s 12-4 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, manager Walt Weiss was asked the obvious question: is the young right-hander still safe in the rotation?
“Those are conversations as you move forward, but you’ve got [Martin] Pérez who just went on the IL,” Weiss said. “So it’s a numbers game there.
But those conversations about the rotation are almost day to day for much of this year. So I think it will continue to be that way.”
That answer said plenty. If Pérez hadn’t joined the injury list, Waldrep might have been headed back to Triple-A Gwinnett to keep building back from the February arthroscopic surgery that removed loose bodies from his right elbow. Instead, the Braves are forced to keep running him out there.
And right now, Waldrep doesn’t look fully settled. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings Tuesday, and over 10 1/3 innings with Atlanta this season he has walked 10 and hit two batters. The splitter that once helped define him has been more of a secondary weapon in his last two starts, and O’Hearn punished the breaking stuff, taking Waldrep’s curveball deep for his first homer and his slider deep for his second.
“It’s pretty frustrating to feel like you kind of took a step back in the rehab process,” Waldrep said. “You feel like you’re making strides and getting back to the version that I want to be and that this team needs. So that’s pretty frustrating.”
The bigger problem for Atlanta is that Waldrep isn’t the issue so much as he’s the latest answer to a question the Braves can’t solve any other way. Spencer Strider’s elbow injury on June 12 may cost him the season.
Pérez was hurt Sunday when a Juan Soto liner badly contused his left forearm. The club also tried to work prospect JR Ritchie into the rotation, but his inconsistent command shut that down.
There are still possible reinforcements, just not ones the Braves can count on yet. Spencer Schwellenbach, who has a fractured right elbow, might return at some point, though he has not even gotten to Florida to begin what would amount to a four- to six-week Spring Training buildup.
AJ Smith-Shawver could be ready after the All-Star break, and his recent rehab work has shown the kind of high-octane fastball that makes his future look bright. But he has spent the past year recovering from right elbow UCL surgery, so banking on him too soon would be risky.
For now, Atlanta is left with Chris Sale and a lot of uncertainty. Reynaldo López has looked decent in two of his three starts since returning to the rotation.
Bryce Elder has an 8.70 ERA over his past six starts, though the Braves are hoping a skipped turn helps him when he pitches Thursday’s series finale in Pittsburgh. Grant Holmes looks more natural in the bullpen, but the shortage of arms has kept him in the rotation even though he has gone five innings in only two of his past six starts.
The Braves knew the rotation was a concern going into the season, and it got worse when four starters went down in spring training. Then came a stretch that made the problem look manageable: Atlanta starters posted a 2.88 ERA while the team won 32 of its first 47 games.
That feeling didn’t last. Over the next 43 games, Braves starters have put up a 5.34 ERA, and the trouble has come roaring back.
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