Braves’ injured pitchers face shrinking window with postseason nearing

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The Atlanta Braves’ 76-55 record indicates they’ve adjusted well to an abundance of pitching issues this season. But with the postseason just under a month away, the returns of several injured arms remain up in the air as time begins to run out.

With a rotation at the start of spring training projected to include Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez and Bryce Elder, a string of injuries has forced the Braves to pivot. Their rotation heading into September looks more like Sale, Elder, deadline acquisition Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes, Martin Perez and AJ Smith-Shawver, who recently returned from Tommy John surgery.

Ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Braves manager Walt Weiss provided updates on several key pitchers with 31 games left in the regular season.

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First on the docket was Robert Suarez, a setup man who has been on the 15-day injured list since June 26 with forearm tightness.

“He’s moving slowly, but everything’s been positive,” Weiss said. “The next step for him is getting on the mound and throwing a bullpen. He’s getting close to that.”

With 31 games remaining, the question arose whether there would be enough time for Suarez to complete a rehab assignment, given that he has been out since June. “Everybody’s different... tough to speculate on that right now. But it’d be tough being out that long to not actually pitching games before he steps on a major league mound,” Weiss said.

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Weiss also discussed Lopez, who has been rehabbing a knee injury after being placed on the injured list Aug. 2. He threw four scoreless innings for Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday and will make another rehab start Friday. Per Weiss, the goal is for Lopez to throw 65 pitches.

“He’s closing in on getting back to us,” Weiss said.

Weiss was then asked about some of the longer-tenured injured list players, including Schwellenbach (elbow), Strider (elbow) and Waldrep (arm). Weiss did not seem confident that they would return to a major league mound this season.

“The window’s getting smaller for (Schwellenbach, Strider and Waldrep). I’m not ruling it out, but you just do the math on those types of things,” Weiss said.

That said, if the postseason began Tuesday, the Braves would host the San Diego Padres in a three-game Wild Card round. Sale would pitch Game 1, followed by Elder in Game 2 and, if needed, Mahle in Game 3. Mahle has a 1.52 ERA in four starts — spanning 23.2 innings — for Atlanta since being acquired at the trade deadline.

With the Phillies on the Braves’ tail (3.5 games back), it’s possible Atlanta could enter the postseason as a Wild Card team. If that were to be the case, the Braves would visit the Chicago Cubs in a best-of-three series.

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