The Atlanta Braves have announced that injured starting pitcher Hurston Waldrep will have to undergo "Tommy John" surgery and fellow starter Spencer Schwellenbach will also have surgery on the same elbow fracture he suffered last year.
Waldrep will likely miss all of 2027. No timetable on Schwellenbach is available.
This is a developing story.

#waldrep #hurston #john #announced

The Atlanta Braves are reportedly acquiring starting pitcher Tyler Mahle from the San Francisco Giants for RHP Anthony Molina, per Robert Murray.
Mahle, 31, has started 18 games for the Giants this season. He heads to Atlanta with a 3-9 record and a 5.13 ERA. The Braves won't be counting on him to become their No. 2 starter, but the veteran arm should be able to eat innings down the stretch of the season to give the franchise an extra option and his teammates some extra rest.
Molina is a 24-year-old pitcher who has made only three appearances for the Braves this season. He saw a lot of work with the Colorado Rockies in his debut season in 2024. That year, he made 35 appearances but finished with a 1-1 record and a 6.79 ERA.
This is the second trade in as many nights that Atlanta has made for starting pitching depth. On Saturday night, the Braves picked up SP Bailey Falter and outfielder Lane Thomas from the Kansas City Royals.
Atlanta was in the market for starting pitching ahead of the trade deadline due to the numerous injuries to the pitching staff. Most recently, Reynaldo Lopez was added to the 15-day IL with left knee inflammation. Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Strider are all also on the IL.

#Braves #starting #molina

The Atlanta Braves made yet another roster move on Friday, and this time, right-hander Hurston Waldrep was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett while lefty Tyler Kinley was reinstated from the paternity list.
Waldrep has appeared in three games this season after recovering from elbow surgery. In 10.2 frames, he's logged an 8.44 ERA and recorded nine strikeouts.
Kinley returned on Friday night, where he threw a scoreless inning, recording one strikeout and surrendering a walk.
With Kinley back in the bullpen, Waldrep will return to Gwinnett to continue refining his game and await his next opportunity in Atlanta.
After a three-hour rain delay, the Braves fell to the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1.

It wouldn't be a day ending in "y" without a Braves roster move:
Hurston Waldrep's ongoing recovery has had quite a few twists and turns. Following a pseudo-breakout late last year, after the Braves were out of it and had little to play for other than trying to garner the kind of major league development that Waldrep largely showed (a 68 ERA-, 79 FIP-, and 89 xFIP- in 56 1/3 innings, good for 1.2 fWAR), the right-hander hit the shelf with recovery from an elbow cleanup, and made just a handful of rehab-ish outings in the minors before the Braves promoted him.
His first outing of 2026 was rough with a 3/4 K/BB ratio in two innings of relief, but he and the defense somehow kept the runs off the board. Waldrep then had his first start back, which had a fine enough 4/1 K/BB ratio in five innings… except that it involved a hit-by-pitch and a three-run homer, putting the Braves in a 3-0 hole early. And then, there was his disaster in Pittsburgh, where he hung multiple breaking pitches to Ryan O'Hearn in a blowout loss.
So, the Braves will welcome back Tyler Kinley from his time actively playing papa and go with a somewhat bulkier bullpen for a while.
Mark Bowman reports that the Braves plan to have JR Ritchie start on Sunday. Ritchie's rookie season is not going particularly well (108/130/116) and he's been used as a multi-inning-ish reliever fill-in so far in July, but he'll get another shot to improve this weekend. Personally, I'm not really sure that "Waldrep being really bad on balance after three outings" is markedly worse for the team's immediate-term outlook than "Ritchie being sub-replacement on balance after ten outings," but my hope is that the Braves can go Johnny Wholestaff in that game anyway and not have to worry about which of their young arms potentially implodes either way.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — ittsburgh Pirates first baseman Ryan O’Hearn made history on Tuesday night, setting a club record by driving in 10 runs on three homers in a 12-4 win over Atlanta.
O’Hearn hit a grand slam off Atlanta starter Hurston Waldrep in the first, added a three-run shot off Waldrep in the third and took Braves reliever Connor Thomas deep with another three-run shot in the sixth.
O’Hearn’s big night broke the franchise record of nine RBIs set by Johnny Rizzo against St. Louis on May 30, 1939. The 10 RBIs by O’Hearn — who signed a multi-year free agent deal to join the Pirates in the offseason — also marked the most in the majors by a player this year.
O’Hearn missed a chance to join the exclusive four-homer club when he singled in the ninth.
An All-Star last season while splitting time between Baltimore and San Diego, O’Hearn also became the 16th player in Pittsburgh’s 145-year history to hit three homers in a game.

Ryan O’Hearn had a day at the ballpark on Tuesday.
The Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman went 4 for 5 at the plate, with 3 home runs in a 12-4 rout of the Atlanta Braves.
He knocked in the first 10 Pirates runs of the day to set a franchise record for RBI in a single game. When he was done, he’d tallied 13 total bases. He could have had more had the Pirates not pulled him for a pinch runner after a single in the eighth inning.
His tally for home runs, RBI and total bases were all career highs.
O’Hearn set the tone for his day when he took the plate in the bottom of the first inning with the bases loaded. Braves starter Hurston Waldrep left a curveball hanging on the outside corner of the plate, and O’Hearn deposited it into the right-field bleachers for a grand slam and a 4-1 Pirates lead.

This article originally appeared on PGHBaseballNOW.com.
This night belonged to Ryan O’Hearn.
The Pirates first baseman slugged three home runs and drove in a franchise-record 10 runs to lift Pittsburgh to a 12-4 win over the Braves at PNC Park on Tuesday night.
Top 1st, 1-0 ATL: The Braves (52-38) put together a two-out rally against Paul Skenes (7-8), which was capped off by Mauricio Dubón’s RBI single to right field.
Bottom 1st, 4-1 PIT: The Pirates (47-45) loaded the bases with no outs against Hurston Waldrep (0-1). After Esmerlyn Valdez struck out, Ryan O’Hearn lined a grand slam over the fence in right field, the third slam of his career and his 14th home run this season.

The Atlanta Braves traveled to PNC Park in hopes of picking up a much needed win after two heartbreaking losses in a row. Hurston Waldrep made his second start of season for the Braves and Paul Skenes was on the mound hoping to rebound from the worst stretch of his young career.
The Braves got on the board first when Matt Olson hit a double and Mauricio Dubón hit a sharp single to center field to make the score 1-0, but that was the only offense for the Braves outside of a Baldwin walk. Things went south shortly after that. Waldrep hit the first batter he faced, then Lowe, who hit a HR against Waldrep last time they faced off, hit a single. Waldrep then walked Reynolds to load the bases with zero outs. After Valdez struck out, Ryan O’Hearn then wasted no time and blew the game wide open with a grand slam to put the Pirates up by three. Gonzales also singled which prompted a mound visit. Waldrep finally was able to get the final two outs of the first inning after that.
In the second inning, the offense went just as you might expect with the bottom of the order. Riley and Jarvis both struck out, and Yastrzemski flied out. Waldrep looked to have settled down in the bottom of the second. He was able to induce a pop up followed by two groundouts.
The Braves struck again in the third inning to put them within two runs when Harris hit a double followed by an Albies single that scored Harris. That would be the only offense in the third though as Skenes retired the next three hitters. The third inning for Waldrep was almost identical to the first. He walked Reynolds, then gave up a single to Valdez, and then O’Hearn took him deep yet again to make the score 2-7 for the Pirates. O’Hearn had seven RBI in three innings. Waldrep then got two groundouts but then struggled a bit again when he Triolo singled followed by a Davis walk. After yet another mound visit Waldrep got the final out of the third with another groundout.
The fourth inning saw the bottom of the Braves order again. Smith popped out, but Riley was able to get a single, but that momentum was squashed when Yastrzemski hit into a double play to end the top of the inning. Waldrep stayed in the game for the fourth inning. He was able to strike out Lowe but then walked the next two hitters he faced which finally got him pulled for newly promoted Connor Thomas. Waldrep ended his night with seven earned runs on six hits to include two HRs, five walks, and two strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. Thomas then forced two groundouts to end the inning.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ryan O'Hearn hit three home runs and finished with a franchise-record 10 RBIs as the Pittsburgh Pirates drilled the Atlanta Braves 12-4 on Tuesday night.
The first baseman, the rare free agent to sign a multiyear deal with the Pirates, made it easy for ace Paul Skenes (7-8) to pick up his first win in nearly two months as Pittsburgh won its third straight.
The left-handed slugger hit his third career grand slam off Atlanta's Hurston Waldrep (0-1) in the first, took Waldrep deep again for a three-run shot in the third and broke Johnny Rizzo's 87-year-old franchise record for RBIs in a game by adding another three-run blast against reliever Connor Thomas in the sixth.
O'Hearn's bid to become the 22nd player in major league history to hit four homers in a game ended when he singled off Atlanta infielder Jorge Mateo — making his third career appearance in relief — in the ninth. O'Hearn instead settled for being the 11th player since the RBI became an official statistic in 1920 to hit three homers and drive in 10 runs in a game. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was the last player to do it in 2024 against Miami.
O'Hearn's historic night gave the Pirates a welcome boost on the same day the club lost star rookie Konnor Griffin for at least two months with a left-hand injury.

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Ryan O’Hearn made history on Tuesday night, setting a club record by driving in 10 runs on three homers against Atlanta.
O’Hearn hit a grand slam off Atlanta starter Hurston Waldrep in the first, added a three-run shot off Waldrep in the third and took Braves reliever Connor Thomas deep with another three-run shot in the sixth.
O’Hearn’s big night broke the franchise record of nine RBIs set by Johnny Rizzo against St. Louis on May 30, 1939. The 10 RBIs by O’Hearn — who signed a multi-year free agent deal to join the Pirates in the offseason — also marked the most in the majors by a player this year.
An All-Star last season while splitting time between Baltimore and San Diego, O’Hearn also became the 16th player in Pittsburgh’s 145-year history to hit three homers in a game.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Ryan O'Hearn made history on Tuesday night, setting a club record by driving in 10 runs on three homers against Atlanta.
O'Hearn hit a grand slam off Atlanta starter Hurston Waldrep in the first, added a three-run shot off Waldrep in the third and took Braves reliever Connor Thomas deep with another three-run shot in the sixth.
O'Hearn's big night broke the franchise record of nine RBIs set by Johnny Rizzo against St. Louis on May 30, 1939. The 10 RBIs by O'Hearn — who signed a multi-year free agent deal to join the Pirates in the offseason — also marked the most in the majors by a player this year.
An All-Star last season while splitting time between Baltimore and San Diego, O'Hearn also became the 16th player in Pittsburgh's 145-year history to hit three homers in a game.
___

The Atlanta Braves are taking on the St. Louis Cardinals looking to secure their first series win since the twentieth of June, almost two full weeks ago.
Hurston Waldrep is making his much anticipated first start of the season after making one appearance this year where he went two innings. It will be interesting to see if he will be on a strict pitch count and how long he will go if he is pitching well. He will be facing Dustin May who had a one hit shutout two starts ago but followed that up with a six earned run start where he was removed after two innings.
If the Braves can get the bats going early, they may have a shot to get a two-game winning streak going for the first time since that series win previously mentioned.
First pitch is at 7:15 EDT. Follow along in the comments.
Lineup

We’re just under an hour away from first pitch at Truist Park and there’s going to be a bit of a new look both on the mound and out in the field for the third game of this series between the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals. Hurston Waldrep is set to make his first start of the season and Jim Jarvis is in the lineup and starting at shortstop for Atlanta.
Walt Weiss spoke with the media ahead of tonight’s contest and as you can imagine, those two aforementioned players were certainly the topic of conversation and people of interest in the run-up to Thursday night’s game.
Walt Weiss told the media that he’s expecting something like 70-to-around-80-or-so pitches from Waldrep tonight. He described his expectations as “hopefully similar to what we got last night from [Reynaldo López].” López threw 69 pitches and tossed five innings with the Cardinals scoring their lone run of the night in the first inning. Anything similar to that would be greatly appreciated and Weiss said that he’s really “looking forward to it. [Waldrep] was dominant at times last year…it’s good to have him back in the mix here.
“A baseball-y player, to use a common term,” is how Walt Weiss described having Jim Jarvis in the fold. “He’s got a good bat. He’s a little different from all the other players in the lineup to where he wants to go deep into counts and draw walks.”
Weiss continued to discuss how he was looking forward to utilizing his starting shortstop for the rubber match against the Cardinals by going into his versatility. “He can hit too,” continued Weiss. He’s having a nice year at Triple-A. He defends well and he’s got a good arm. He runs pretty well. It’s nice having another left-handed bat against a tough righty like [Cardinals starter] Dustin May. It’s nice to have that option as a left-handed option. The shortstop thing will be day-to-day but he’s nice to have.”

The Atlanta Braves suffered another blow on the injury front, and yet again, Ronald Acuña Jr. is the subject. Acuña exited Tuesday night in the fourth inning after limping on his way to first base.
The club later reported that he exited the contest with hamstring tightness. Best case scenario for Atlanta is that he is considered day-to-day; however, this is the same hamstring he strained earlier this season.
The bad news doesn’t end there, as the Braves went on to suffer an extra-inning loss to the Chicago White Sox, 6-5.
Hurston Waldrep is set to make a rehab start for the Columbus Clingstones on Thursday. He made two appearances in the Florida Complex League last week.
Despite two losses in the Braves’ system, Monday brought exciting games from a couple of prospects. More in the minor league recap.

The Braves continue to win and are now 42-20. Not only do they continue to win, but they continue to win without many of their best players available. They have the best record in baseball and should see Drake Baldwin return towards the middle of the month, who was having a down-ballot MVP-caliber season, and should be getting rotation reinforcements back from injury perhaps as soon as July. The potential insertions of Hurston Waldrep, AJ Smith-Shawver, and later Spencer Schwellenbach into the rotation could also free up Grant Holmes to add some strength to the bullpen, rather than providing serviceable rotation depth. Other injuries can always happen, of course, but this team is set up quite well for the coming months.
AJ Smith-Shawver is just behind Hurston Waldrep in his recovery from Tommy John and should start his rehab ****** ignment soon.
Matt Powers previewed the Braves’ intriguing DSL roster down on the farm, with some interesting names especially on the hitting side.
The Braves clinched another series win with a 7-2 win on Wednesday and have a chance for a sweep behind Chris Sale at home on Thursday.
Toronto traded for former top prospect Simeon Woods Richardson, as he has struggled to establish himself as more than a back-end starter in MLB.

Braves predicted to trade JR Ritchie, No. 1 prospect for $32M Cy Young winner to boost rotation originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Atlanta Braves became the first team to reach 40 wins this season after defeating the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night. Atlanta has accomplished that despite dealing with injuries throughout the year and a starting rotation that still isn’t at full strength.
Before the season, pitchers like Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach underwent elbow surgery. Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos acknowledged before the season that Atlanta needed to add another starter.
“We’ve explored the starting rotation, adding and getting some type of starter, whether that’s a trade or signing. We’d like for it to be someone impactful, someone we think can start a playoff game,” Anthopoulos said.
With two months of the season now in the books, it is becoming clearer which players could be available at the trade deadline. Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer believes Atlanta could land Tarik Skubal by dealing away its top prospects.