Midway through his second season in the major leagues, Spencer Schwellenbach established himself as arguably one of the top pitchers in the National League.
His right elbow, however, argued otherwise.
The Saginaw Heritage High School grad saw his 2025 season end after setting a career high with 12 strikeouts during a 6-1 win over Philadelphia on June 28. Schwellenbach allowed three hits, one walk and one run in seven innings to improve to 7-4 for the Atlanta Braves.
But the pain in his arm did not go away, and he was diagnosed with a broken elbow to end a promising season that was on track for a possible spot on the all-star team.
“I didn’t really feel it on one throw, but it gradually got worse and worse throughout the game,” Schwellenbach said. “I told the coaches about it, but I told them I was going to finish the game or get to my pitch count.
“After that game, I couldn’t move my arm for two weeks. It was really bad. I pitched with a torn UCL a little bit at Nebraska and ended up getting surgery, but I pitched with it. That pain was nowhere near what this was. People have told me that bone pain is the worst pain. They were right.”
The broken elbow came 11 days before the National League announced its pitchers for the all-star game, held July 15 in Atlanta . It also ended an amazing run. In his final 10 games, Schwellenbach was 6-1 with 71 strikeouts, 11 walks, 50 hits and 20 earned runs in 69 2/3 innings.
“At the time, the all-star game was definitely on my mind,” Schwellenbach said. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid, and it was realistic. It was just really bad timing.
“The injury was very random. I’m not even sure how something like that happens. Maybe it was just the spike in velo the last month. I threw 100 (mph) for the first time ever. I had just set a career high in strikeouts. There’s no real answer how it happened.”
Schwellenbach ended the 2025 season with a 7-4 record and a 3.09 earned run average in 17 games. He struck out 108 batters and walked 19 in 110 2/3 innings with a 0.967 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched).
At the time his season ended, Schwellenbach led the National League in innings pitched.
“I stopped laying out goals that are stat-based a long time ago,” Schwellenbach said. “If I had expectations for myself, it was to do everything I needed to do to be an all-star, to be a top pitcher.
“I also wanted to lead the league innings, and I was doing that at the time I was hurt. It was going good, at least while it was going.”
Schwellenbach played shortstop at Nebraska before the Braves took him in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft. That background, along with pitching mechanics developed in high school under Heritage baseball coach Bob Andrezejewski, has the 25-year-old right-hander eyeing another goal.
“Gold Glove is definitely a dream and a goal,” Schwellenbach said. “I’ve always liked defense. There aren’t many balls hit back to me as a pitcher, but when they are, I want to be ready.
“A lot of the mechanics and the way I pitch were developed through Coach Andy’s drills at Heritage. He always had us finishing toward home plate to be ready to field the ball. I get a lot of compliments on that. Other pitchers ask me how I do it.”
Despite missing the second half of the season, Schwellenbach still led National League pitchers with three double plays and was fifth in the league with 19 putouts. Los Angeles starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw 173 2/3 innings, led the league with 24.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound pitcher was also second among National League pitchers with six defensive runs saved. San Francisco pitcher Logan Webb, who threw 207 innings, won the Gold Glove with seven defensive runs saved.
“Pitching and fielding have always come naturally,” Schwellenbach said. “Coach Andy always harped on it. We did a lot of drills so that I always finished coming to home plate and in position to field.”
Schwellenbach also was one of the top control pitchers in the league. He did not walk more than two batters unintentionally in any of his 17 starts.
“I’ve always thrown a lot of strikes,” Schwellenbach said. “My dad would always get mad at me if I walked a guy. Those are free bases. I like to pound the zone.”
And he uses six different pitches to do it. Schwellenbach feels he could add a seventh, a sweeper, at some point.
“I’ve tried a sweeper a little bit, but I haven’t thrown it in a game,” Schwellenbach said. “I was told in the minors that five pitches were too many. A lot of people have a lot of opinions. Some say that’s too many. Some say it’s not.
“I’m in the group that says it’s not too many. If hitters don’t know what’s coming, it’s harder to hit. I like to be unpredictable.”
After the injury, Schwellenbach went into rehab mode, including regular workouts at the Freeland SportsZone when he visited his family in Saginaw during Christmas.
“Honestly, you just do the same stuff you would do for any arm injury,” Schwellenbach said. “It’s a lot of shoulder stuff, forearm stuff and all the Tommy John or labrum rehab stuff. I’m just getting the area strong again so I can throw. We gave it a lot of rest.
“Bone heals faster, so that’s a good thing. I’m throwing, and it’s feeling a lot better. I’ll know a lot more when I start throwing bullpens in a couple of weeks. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be ready for spring training.”
Atlanta’s pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to North Port, Florida, in February.
“My arm feels good, but I’ve been told that I need to learn how to throw with less velocity sometimes, so I don’t get hurt again,” Schwellenbach said. “But it’s not like I’m trying to throw it any harder to get to 100. I just throw. The effort doesn’t change whether it hits 98, 99 or 100.
“It’s hard for a pitcher to dial it back, so I’m not planning to. My goals are the same, and that starts with being ready to throw when spring training starts.”