Entering the season, the Warriors expected Spencer Schwellenbach to be healthy and ready to play after his 2025 season was cut short with a broken elbow. Unfortunately, on the pitcher and catcher’s first day of spring training, it became clear that Schwellenbach’s elbow was still bothering him.
Braves beat writer Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that Spencer Schwellenbach is experiencing elbow inflammation in his throwing arm and will start the year on the 60-day IL.
The only good news, since we’re still in the early stages, is that if all goes well, he could accelerate his return starting in April, as the recovery period from surgery to remove a bone spur usually takes 10-12 weeks. Still, you never want to see a pitcher miss that much time early on, as they’ll be behind the proverbial 8-ball once the regular season begins, and Schwellenbach’s 60-day start at Illinois means we won’t see him pitch for months — with or without a successful recovery. You also definitely don’t want to see a young pitcher as good as Schwerenbach develop such serious elbow issues — especially considering the elbow issue ultimately cost him most of the 2025 season.
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All the Warriors can do now is hope the inflammation is caused by bone spurs, as that’s pretty straightforward in terms of treatment and recovery. If things get more complicated, it would certainly be concerning and he could very well miss a lot of time once the regular season begins. We can only hope for the best, and hope that between this and Kim Ha-sung’s bad luck, the Warriors can shake off their injury woes as soon as possible. Atlanta has pretty high expectations for the upcoming season, and the only way it could be derailed is if they end up having another injury-plagued season.
The good news is that Atlanta’s offseason trades ensure that they’ll have at least better depth than they have going into the 2025 season, but it’s certainly a bit lame to see that depth being tested from the get-go.
Additionally, Bowman reported that Roberto Suarez will be late because he is dealing with visa issues. Fortunately, it’s not an injury, but it’s still another frustrating thing for the Warriors to deal with early in the season.