How the Braves built MLB’s best pitching staff from ashes, and whether it can last

Bullet point summary by AI

• The Atlanta Braves have gotten off to a scorching start to the season — not in spite of their injury-ravaged rotation but because of it.
• Chris Sale is the anchor of a rotation cobbled together from unexpected contributors and injury comebacks.
• This staff’s early dominance raises questions about sustainability, but the team’s depth and defensive improvements have kept them competitive.

On the eve of the 2026 season, if you’d told Atlanta Braves fans that their team would enter play on April 20 with a stranglehold on the NL East at 15-7, they would’ve 1) asked what sort of substances you were on and 2) assumed that the lineup was responsible for 90 percent of the work. Such was the degree to which this pitching staff got ravaged by injury in spring: First Spencer Schwellenbach, then Hurston Waldrep, then Joey Wentz, then Spencer Strider.

And yet, the Braves are running away with their division not in spite of their rotation, but because of it — ranking first in all of baseball in starter ERA in the early going. Treading water would be one thing; but this team was left with more or less scraps and has somehow fashioned them into an elite pitching staff.

Which begs the questions: How, and is this at all for real?

The Braves rotation has been the story of the 2026 season so far

What’s most remarkable about it is that it’s been an all-hands-on-deck effort rather than simply one or two pitchers carrying things. Everything the Braves have tried so far is working, against all odds.

It all starts with the one sure thing that managed to avoid getting hurt in camp: Chris Sale, once again pitching like one of the very best in the game. Sale comes with durability concerns of his own, of course — he’s cracked the 150-inning mark exactly once since 2018 — but as long as he’s out there, the Braves will have a very good chance to win every fifth day.

Of course, that doesn’t explain how the rest of this staff came together. And that’s where we get to some good injury luck: Both Grant Holmes and Reynaldo Lopez entered the year with serious health concerns — the former ended last season on the IL with an elbow sprain that had him considering surgery, the latter only threw five innings due to a shoulder issue — and yet they’ve been not just consistently available but consistently awesome. Those are two quality mid-rotation arms when they’re healthy, and if they keep throwing like this, that’s a huge development until the cavalry arrives.

As for the other 40 percent of that rotation … look, I won’t lie: I’m as surprised as anyone that Elder and the 35-year-old Perez have been anywhere near this good so far. And there’s definitely some luck involved there; as shiny as the Braves’ top-line numbers are, under the hood isn’t quite so flattering.

• Starter’s ERA: 2.65 (1st)
• Expected ERA: 3.31 (5th)
• FIP: 4.02 (17th)
• xFIP: 4.05 (18th)

Sale aside, this rotation is sorely lacking in real swing-and-miss stuff, and that leaves them vulnerable to batted-ball luck. That luck has been on their side so far, but we all know just how quickly that tide can turn. Still, Atlanta is throwing tons of strikes and letting a much-improved infield defense — it’s amazing the difference a healthy Ozzie Albies and the acquisition of Mauricio Dubon have made — do the rest.

And really, the goal here was never sustainable success, because this isn’t the rotation the Braves plan on having for the stretch run. The best the Braves could hope for was just to hold down the fort, and they’ve passed that test with flying colors.

Is this makeshift Atlanta rotation built for October?

Both Schwellenbach and Waldrep will be out until the summer. But Strider will be back soon, and that suddenly gives you a pretty respectable starting five between he, Sale, Lopez, Holmes and Elder. And really, respectable is all you need given how dangerous this offense is looking right now (and how good Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias are late in games).

Do I expect the Braves to have the best rotation in the sport over a full year, or even particularly close to it? No. But if Strider can build on the gains he made late in spring, and if Schwellenbach can get back to his old self at some point before October, you can at least have enough to cover a short series without putting yourself at a disadvantage.

Granted, that’s a lot of ifs, and Atlanta’s ultimate ceiling this season (the offense sets a pretty high floor) is still reliant on their best arms getting and staying healthy. But they deserve a ton of credit for figuring out a way to make this work, and I wouldn’t expect this team to turn into a pumpkin anytime soon.