The Atlanta Braves have spent most of 2026 looking like one of baseball’s most complete teams.
A starter gets nicked up, and someone else eats innings. A bat goes quiet, and another one starts sending baseballs into the stratosphere. A star player spirals into a slump, and a journeyman infielder becomes a big-time hitter. A regular disappears from the lineup, and the Braves still have enough firepower to make opposing pitchers look like members of the grounds crew (no offense).
Braves Injury Bug Is Starting to Test Atlanta’s Lead
That has been the Braves’ season so far: deep, dangerous, and often allergic to panic.
However, as is often the case in baseball, injuries have begun to rear their ugly heads, and many notable players across the team have been affected.
Spencer Strider Injury Adds Pressure to Braves Rotation
The latest and loudest concern is Spencer Strider, who landed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation after exiting Friday’s loss to the New York Mets. The encouraging part is that his MRI showed no ligament damage. Less comforting, of course, is that Strider will be shut down from throwing for at least four weeks before undergoing a follow-up MRI.
For a pitcher with Strider’s injury history and reliance on a dominant four-seam fastball, that isn’t the most promising news.
Strider’s 2026 numbers already looked oddly human: 4-2, 5.31 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 23 walks, and nine home runs allowed over 39 innings. His fastball velocity also reportedly dipped dramatically during that Mets start, which made the whole thing feel less like a normal clunker and more like a warning light blinking brightly on the dashboard.
The Braves can survive a short Strider absence. They have survived plenty already. But for a team that is already lacking a number of its top starting pitchers, Strider’s injury surely arrives at a bad time for the team.
AJ Smith-Shawver remains on the 60-day injured list after Tommy John surgery. Spencer Schwellenbach is still recovering from right elbow trouble after arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs. Hurston Waldrep has been activated and sent to Triple-A Gwinnett, which is encouraging. However, it’s a far cry from that promising young pitcher handing Atlanta six crisp innings tomorrow night.
Drake Baldwin’s Return Gives Atlanta a Needed Boost
The good news is that Drake Baldwin is back. The Braves reinstated him from the injured list on June 16 after a strained right oblique cost him nearly a month, and his return matters far beyond catcher depth. Before the injury, Baldwin was hitting .303 with 13 home runs, 38 RBI, and a .932 OPS in 48 games, leading the charge as one of the most notable MVP candidates for Atlanta in the season’s early going.
Baldwin’s return also softens the blow of Sean Murphy’s continued absence. Murphy remains out with a fractured left middle finger and is not expected back until the second half of July, leaving Atlanta in a strange spot where one catcher returning feels like both a relief and a reminder of what is still missing (wherefore art thou, Jonah Heim?).
Then there is Ronald Acuña Jr., who remains on the injured list with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, his second hamstring issue in as many months. The Braves have described this one as less severe than the previous strain, but there is no version of “Acuña’s hamstring again” that sounds especially soothing. When he is out, Atlanta loses speed, thunder, chaos, and, frankly, their talismanic identity, as Ronnie remains one of the most notable all-around players in the game.
Braves Depth Bends but Doesn’t Break (Yet)
The broader picture remains strong. The Braves entered June 16 with the best record in baseball at 46-25. They’re still in first place, with 359 runs scored against just 252 allowed. That run differential is proof that this team has spent two and a half months being legitimately excellent.
Still, excellence does not make a roster indestructible. It only gives the injuries more cushion to chew through when they inevitably pile up.
Atlanta does not need to panic. It does not need a sugar-rush trade—like swinging for the fences on a Tarik Skubal trade—just because the injured list received another casualty. But it does need the trickle of bad health news to slow down before a comfortable lead starts to feel a little more precarious.
Depth has carried the Braves through plenty already. Now, the injured list needs to stop acting like it wants its own clubhouse.
Main Photo Credits: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
