ATLANTA — Back in 2018, when the Braves had 21-year-old Ozzie Albies as an Opening Day second baseman and 20-year-old phenom Ronald Acuña Jr. scheduled to arrive by early season, veterans including Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis made a decision.
They would make prospects and other young players feel welcome from Day 1, eschewing the traditional manner of treating them like second-class citizens who had to earn their proverbial spurs before being treated as equals. They would not make them feel uncomfortable and worried about off-the-field stuff like showing deference in the clubhouse, dining room or the team plane.
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They knew they were going to need such players to perform, to be at their best, if the Braves were to achieve their goals. So why have them stressed out or thinking of anything except what they needed to do to prepare and play?
It worked, and it’s something that Braves veterans have done ever since. It’s been especially beneficial in seasons like this one, where the Braves have dipped down into their minor-league system repeatedly for injury replacements in the lineup, bullpen and starting rotation.
Rookie Spencer Schwellenbach limited the Detroit Tigers to three hits, two walks and one run with seven strikeouts in six innings of a 2-1 win Tuesday, picking up his first MLB win in his fourth start. This was one night after rookie Forrest Wall had a game-tying RBI single in a 2-1 win against the Tigers on the day the speedy outfielder was recalled from Triple A.
The Braves have won five of six since their five-game skid, and young newcomers have played a big part.
1st career win for @spencerschwell! 👏pic.twitter.com/a0dxTHpxwA
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 19, 2024
“It was really easy to come in here and feel comfortable,” said Schwellenbach, a second-round draft pick out of the University of Nebraska in 2021, who missed 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery and made 24 minor-league starts before his MLB debut May 29. “You walk in, everyone shakes your hand with a smile on their face, and I feel comfortable to ask questions whenever I need to.
“Guys have kind of taken me under their wing, and it just allows me to talk to them without, as you said, walking on eggshells.”
Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud praised Schwellenbach’s six-pitch repertoire and especially command of his 94-98 mph fastball, and said the 24-year-old’s confidence and desire to learn have helped him make quick strides, evident by consecutive six-inning outings at Baltimore (four hits, two runs, two walks) and Tuesday.
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“That’s more having a few guys here like (Chris) Sale, like (Max) Fried, like Charlie (Morton), three guys who have been in the biggest moment of this game,” d’Arnaud said of those veteran pitchers, “so for Schwelly to be able to ask them any sort of question that he wants and have them give great answers — (young pitchers) are able to soak it all in and listen and go about things the right way. It makes it easy for me and (catcher Sean Murphy).
“Because now I know we can just talk to him about anything because we see him talk to the big guys, so we feel more comfortable just going up to him and talking about everything. It’s been fun.”
Marcell Ozuna, whose first-inning run-scoring single proved to be the game-winning RBI Tuesday, likes what he’s seen from Schwellenbach.
“He’s got good stuff, and he’s quiet,” Ozuna said. “Everyone knows what he’s got. Everyone that comes up here, they’re around guys like Charlie, Chavy (Jesse Chavez), and then guys like d’Arnaud. We’re trying to help everyone and each other. We need them.”
On Monday, rookie reliever Daysbel Hernández had two strikeouts in a scoreless inning against Detroit in his first game back from Triple A, and Grant Holmes pitched three scoreless innings Sunday against Tampa Bay in his long-awaited MLB debut after 10 years in the minor leagues with three organizations.
“We don’t have egos here,” said 40-year-old reliever Chavez, explaining how the team gets such production from so many inexperienced newcomers thrust into the fray. “Everybody’s treated the same, everybody’s treated respectfully, and everybody’s expected to be counted on. And when you’re expected to be counted on, it makes it that much more joyful to show up each and every day, to understand what the job is that’s got to be done.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker said that clubhouse dynamic helps smooth the transition for newcomers, and it shows in results on the field.
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“They’re all in there rooting for those guys and pulling for them and going to help them any way they can,” Snitker said. “Because they know if we’re going to be successful, we’re going to need those guys, and you don’t do any good alienating them. You might as well welcome them in and do the best you can to help them be successful. Because if they’re successful, we’re all going to be. I think our guys realize that, and the main goal is to win.”
If anyone new is thinking about things like clubhouse decorum or being shunned by a veteran or whatever, it’s just a needless distraction, the Braves say. Especially when a team is forced to replace several key players before the trade market starts to heat up, as the Braves had to do after injuries to Spencer Strider, Acuña, Murphy and, most recently, center fielder Michael Harris II, who injured a hamstring Friday and is likely out at least several weeks.
“These guys want to win any way they can,” Snitker said. “You don’t ever hear anybody moaning about if somebody gets hurt. I mean, it’s just part of the game, part of what we do. And it’s just a chance for somebody else to have a great opportunity.”
Chavez, whose first stint with the Braves was in 2010 in his third MLB season, said the atmosphere created by the Braves manager, coaches and veteran players has long allowed newcomers to thrive. He said it was there to a degree even before that decision was made by a group of Braves veterans to eliminate any form of making rookies uncomfortable — the kind of thing that was common in baseball until recent years when MLB skewed ever younger and teams realized it was counterproductive to do any sort of rookie hazing.
“Understanding that this is the big leagues here, this is what it’s like,” Chavez said. “Being able to show up and, what you did down there (in the minors), to be able to come up and do it here — the environment we provide is huge for that. And I think that’s a testament to the generations before, from the Big Three (pitchers John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine) that were here and the teams in the ’90s up to now. That all transitioned to now, to where younger kids can come up and do their thing.
“I think that’s beautiful.”
Lobbying for Chavez
There was talk around baseball of a possible first All-Star selection for Chavez last season before a scorched comebacker off the bat of Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera fractured his shin on June 14. Chavez had a 1.55 ERA in 31 appearances before that incident, which put him on the injured list for more than three months.
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Now some Braves say Chavez should again get All-Star consideration. He has a 1.21 ERA and 1.079 WHIP in 23 appearances, with 24 strikeouts and 10 walks in 29 2/3 innings. He’s excelled in big situations, limiting hitters to a microscopic .059 average (2-for-34), best in MLB among pitchers with at least 30 batters faced in those situations.
“He keeps getting better and better,” veteran Braves left-hander A.J. Minter said.
Chavez has stranded 12 of 13 inherited runners, including a big spot Monday when he replaced Max Fried in the sixth inning with two on and one out and struck out the next two batters. His is the second-best percentage of stranded runners among NL relievers who’ve inherited at least 10.
Of 27 MLB pitchers age 36 or older, Chavez’s ERA is second only to Texas’ Kirby Yates (1.11), a former Braves teammate.
“You look at his numbers and you can make a statement for him being on the All-Star team,” Snitker said.
Perhaps most remarkable about Chavez, who’ll be 41 in August, is how much better he pitches each time he returns to the Braves than anywhere else in recent years. He’s come back to the Braves from another organization four times since the beginning of the 2021 season, and in that span has a 2.03 ERA in 151 innings for Atlanta and a 7.16 ERA in 16 1/3 innings with the Cubs and Angels.
“I don’t think anyone can explain it,” Minter said of Chavez’s superior stats with the Braves. “Hopefully, people start to realize that it’s not about throwing hard, it’s not about spin rate, it’s about being a pitcher. He’s proved that, and that’s why he’s still here at the age of 40, and who knows how long he can keep going. Especially for me, as I get older, it’s something that I’m gonna have to probably learn, is to be more of a pitcher and not rely on stuff. But it’s pretty cool to see that.”
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The White Sox released Chavez this year at the end of spring training, and the Braves quickly re-signed him.
“We went through camp without him, but the sentiment was that some way or another he’d find his way back to us,” Fried said. “And luckily it was before the season started, rather than the All-Star (break) or trade deadline or something. But his impact on this team and organization, it’s really great. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Fried is among those Braves who’ve made sure to take advantage of the wisdom to be gained from 40-year-old teammates Charlie Morton and Chavez.
“To see what (Chavez) has done for the last three or so years — I mean, with him and Charlie, age is just a number,” Fried said. “If you take care of your body and you take your craft serious and do what you do really well, you’re going to have a lot of success in this game. They’re perfect examples of that. And they’re obviously really big leader figures in the clubhouse. Being able to go to them with anything, everything baseball — on the field, off the field — their experience is invaluable.”
(Photo: Casey Sykes / Getty Images)