Atlanta Braves 2026 season falling apart before they have even taken the field
The Braves are about to open a season in the NL East with a rotation that looks like it got hit by a bus in March. That’s not doom-posting – that’s simple math. The latest punch is Spencer Strider starting the season on the injured list with a left oblique strain.
He was scratched late in camp, and the team is hoping it’s short-term, but obliques linger . Strider was 2 – 0 with a 3. 24 ERA this spring and punched out 11 in 8 1/3 innings, which is exactly why this hurts – he was trending in the right direction.
This is also the same guy who led MLB in strikeouts in 2023 with 281, won 20 games, and finished top-five in Cy Young voting. When that production is gone, you can’t fake it until you make it. MORE: Predicting the winner of every MLB game on Friday, March 27, 2026 Braves Injuries: Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy and pitcher Spencer Strider during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images And Strider isn’t the only problem.
The Braves are also missing Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep, both on the 60-day IL after arthroscopic elbow surgeries, with timelines that push them out until at least late June. Joey Wentz is out for the season with a torn ACL. Friends, that’s not just one bad break – that’s your depth chart getting cut off at the knees before the first pitch.
So what do the Braves do now? They lean hard on Chris Sale as the Opening Day starter and hope the rest of the patchwork holds. The issue is that relying on Sale as the stabilizer is a gamble by itself – he’s still elite when he’s on the mound, but the Braves are already asking their most important arm to carry a heavier load because everyone else is hurt.