If this were any other Atlanta Braves season over the past seven years, the news that Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach might be returning to the mound in August would feel like a launch sequence. Injured arms back just in time for a playoff push? Cue the October montage. But 2025 is not like other seasons.
This year, the Atlanta Braves are 13 games under .500 with just days to go before the MLB Trade Deadline — and everything points to them being sellers, not contenders. So when whispers began to swirl about possibly shutting pitchers down for the rest of the season and saving them for 2026, it didn’t sound far-fetched.
But manager Brian Snitker isn’t buying that narrative at all. “I think it’s big for a guy to go into the offseason not in rehab,” Snitker said this week. “I think I’ve seen over the years that’s a big difference.”
It’s not just about innings or stat sheets. It’s about normalcy, and for Snitker, that matters. He wants guys like Sale and Schwellenbach, both eligible to return before the end of August, to get back on the mound — not to save this season, but to salvage the next one.
Playing the Long Game by Playing Now
There’s a psychological and physical reset that comes from getting back into game action before the offseason hits. Pitchers who go into winter without a rehab timeline hanging over them typically show up to Spring Training more prepared — mentally sharp, physically whole, and not stuck trying to ramp up after missing months.
In other words, even if the Braves don’t finish .500 this year, getting these arms back into a groove could be a domino effect that sets up 2026 to look a whole lot more like what Atlanta fans are used to.
Chris Sale, who’s dealt with a carousel of injuries in recent years, didn’t even get to finish his Cy Young-level season this year on his own terms. He was scratched from a Game 162 start and hasn’t pitched since mid-September. Just getting him back out there — healthy — would be a massive moral win.
Same goes for Reynaldo López, Joe Jiménez, Spencer Schwellenbach and any other bruised-up Brave who’s been sidelined this year. For the guys who can return, Snitker wants them to return — not because the Braves are chasing October, but because this season’s final innings could be the first steps toward next spring.
Braves Fans Deserve a Glimpse of What’s Next
The 2025 season hasn’t gone the way anyone expected. But for a fanbase that’s watched this team ride waves of dominance for most of the decade, there’s still something to be said for finishing strong — not for the standings, but for the future foundation.
Seeing Sale stride back to the mound, Schwellenbach flash his promise, or López sling heat again won’t make the playoffs magically reappear. But it might just give Braves fans what they really need: a reason to believe again.
And if that means turning the page with confidence — and a full rotation of healthy arms — then those late-season innings might be more important than they seem.
