NEW YORK -- Should Spencer Schwellenbach be an All-Star? The Mets certainly have reason to back the Braves right-hander, who has had his way with them since reaching the Major League level last year.
Schwellenbach didn’t completely erase the frustration felt this weekend as the Braves lost Chris Sale to a fractured left rib and then bid adieu to momentum with a series loss to the Marlins. But the young hurler righted the ship as he extended his success against the Mets in a 3-2 win on Monday night at Citi Field.
“Nothing surprises me with him anymore,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You know it's not a small sample anymore. You come to expect it, and I think he expects it. He's just so focused.”
How much would Schwellenbach appreciate representing the Braves when the All-Star Game is played in Atlanta next month?
“That would be awesome, but we’ve got games to win here right now,” Schwellenbach said. “So I’m just focusing on that.”
Yep, focused is a good way to describe the Braves right-hander, who leads the Majors with 103 2/3 innings. He ranks third among National League pitchers with a 0.99 WHIP and 13th with a 3.21 ERA.
The 25-year-old hurler is good, but you don’t have to tell the Mets. After limiting them to Juan Soto’s two-run homer over seven innings on Monday, he has a 2.06 ERA through his first five starts against them.
In other words, Schwellenbach has played a part in the Braves winning 27 of their past 37 games against the Mets, including each of the four played this season.
“Every time I’ve seen him pitch, I feel like he’s continued to do an amazing job,” Braves right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. said through an interpreter.
Schwellenbach has become a nemesis, but filling the Chipper Jones role as Public Enemy No. 1 in this rivalry is Acuña, who started the decisive two-run third inning with one of the nine homers he’s hit in 101 at-bats this year. He drew loud boos when his home run trot included his customary dance move of a Euro Step before third base.
“Whenever I hear those boos, it’s hard to describe, it’s almost like I get more confidence,” Acuña said.
Acuña ranked fourth among NL outfielders when the latest Phase 1 All-Star balloting results were released on Monday. Schwellenbach could make two more starts before the NL pitching staff is announced.
And if Snitker was choosing the roster, he would include interim closer Dylan Lee, who cleaned former closer Raisel Iglesias’ mess by stranding runners at the corners with a strikeout of Soto to end Monday’s eighth. The lefty also worked a perfect ninth to notch his second career save and the Braves’ first save since May 16 -- a franchise-long 31 game stretch between saves.
Lee’s clutch performance handed the Mets their ninth loss in their past 10 games. More importantly, it helped right the Braves, who swept the Mets last week in Atlanta and then lost two of three to the last-place Marlins in Miami this past weekend.
While Lee delivered the final important pitches, this night belonged to Schwellenbach, who has completed exactly seven innings in each of his five starts against the Mets. He surrendered just two runs over 21 innings against them last year and then allowed four runs over seven innings in a Braves comeback win in Atlanta last week.
Schwellenbach was a shortstop at Nebraska before he added closing duties to his responsibilities during his 2021 junior season. The Braves drafted him, nurtured him through Tommy John rehab over the next season, introduced him to a starting role in ‘23 and then found him with a six-pitch arsenal shortly after he made his MLB debut two months into the ‘24 season.
“He's got a lot of weapons, he can put hitters away,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I feel like today, he used that two-seam, the sinker to righties -- something that the last outing, he didn't use.”
Schwellenbach threw just one sinker last week in Atlanta. He threw 20 on Monday night. Seven were put in play with an average exit velocity of 77 mph.
“I learned that I don't have to throw the same pitches to the same hitters,” Schwellenbach said. “I can switch that up and just be unpredictable.”
So considering Schwellenbach leads the league in innings and has a 2.74 ERA over his past nine starts, should he get an All-Star selection?
“Yes sir, for sure,” Acuña said without hesitation in English.