Walt Weiss Addresses Hurston Waldrep's Rotation Spot After Rough Night in Pittsburgh

Hurston Waldrep's return from elbow surgery hit its first real bump on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

The right-hander was tagged for seven runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings in a lopsided loss to the Pirates, with Ryan O'Hearn doing most of the damage.

O'Hearn crushed a grand slam off a hanging curveball in the first inning, then added a three-run homer in the third after a walk and a single put two men on.

Five walks hurt Waldrep as much as the contact did, and the outing raised a fair question about his place in the rotation.

Manager Walt Weiss was asked about that after the game, and his answer suggested the Braves are in no rush to decide anything.

"Those are conversations as you move forward, but you've got [Martin] Perez who just went on the IL," Weiss said. "So it's a numbers game there. But those conversations about the rotation are almost day to day for much of this year. So I think it will continue to be that way."

Atlanta placed Perez on the 15-day injured list Monday after a Juan Soto line drive caught him on the left forearm, and with Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach still sidelined, the Braves do not have enough healthy starters to take the ball away from Waldrep.

The 24-year-old is also just three appearances into his return from February elbow surgery, so some rust was always part of the deal.

Tuesday inflated his ERA to 8.44 through 10 2/3 innings, an ugly number that hides a more encouraging start against St. Louis last week, when he settled in after a shaky first and held the Cardinals to three runs over 5 1/3 frames.

Once Perez is healthy, the spot should be his.

The veteran lefty owns a 3.54 ERA across 18 appearances and had been one of Atlanta's steadiest arms since moving back into the rotation in mid-May.

His injury is a bruise from a batted ball rather than a problem with the arm itself, and X-rays came back negative, which points to a return measured in weeks rather than months.

Waldrep has the higher ceiling of the two, and nobody in the organization doubts his stuff.

Perez has simply been more dependable this season, and a first-place team in July cannot hand out rotation spots on potential alone.

If Waldrep strings together a few strong starts while Perez heals, the conversation gets more interesting, but he has not earned that debate yet.

Atlanta has been juggling its rotation for months, with injuries forcing Weiss into a new plan almost every week.

The Braves sit at 52-38 and still lead the NL East through all of it, while Tuesday's win moved Pittsburgh to 47-45.

Weiss called these conversations day-to-day, and given how this season has gone for Atlanta's pitching staff, there is no reason to expect that to change.