Braves ace Spencer Strider was supposed to start the first-ever MLB Speedway Classic opposite the Reds in Bristol, Tennessee. The game was supposed to be played on Saturday night. Neither of those things happened.
Instead, inclement weather caused a 2.5-hour delay to first pitch and ultimately pushed the game to Sunday after just four outs. Due to the delayed start on Saturday, the Braves had already decided to scratch Strider and go with a bullpen game. Having the game suspended allowed them time to name Hurston Waldrep their 26th player and bring him to town from Gwinnett.
Hurston Waldrep Answers the Call for the Braves
It was Waldrep’s scheduled day to start for Gwinnett, so the decision to put him on the mound for the Braves made sense. His recent performance at the Triple-A level likely gave the Atlanta staff plenty of confidence in the choice, too.
Hurston Waldrep was lights out in July! pic.twitter.com/03b4gThRJM
— Marksmen Management (@MarksmenMgmt) July 30, 2025
That confidence was not misplaced, as Waldrep stepped into an odd situation with impressive composure for a young pitcher.
Waldrep took the mound with two runners already on and just one out. The Reds immediately pulled off a double-steal, but that still didn’t seem to shake the rookie right-hander.
Waldrep induced a weak grounder that, with some help from a baserunning blunder by Reds star Elly De La Cruz, led to the second out. Waldrep then got out of the first inning with a lineout to left from Noelvi Marte.
Over the next five frames, Waldrep displayed a poise which he sorely lacked in his brief, two-start stint in the majors last season. He commanded the zone (75 pitches, 45 strikes) and showed off his potent repertoire. Waldrep’s signature delivery is his excellent splitter. It led to five whiffs on 15 pitches Sunday.
Hurston Waldrep was scheduled to pitch in Triple-A today. But after a late-night call last night, he headed to Bristol and pitched a solid game for the @Braves! 👏 pic.twitter.com/qzT0CZTNHU
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 3, 2025
It all resulted in an excellent stat line for Waldrep as well as his first MLB win. The 23-year-old ultimately gave up only one run on three hits and two walks while striking out four across 5.2 innings en route to a 4-2 victory. Not too shabby for a pitcher who didn’t even know he was getting called up until around 11:00 PM the night before.
As Waldrep told Tom Verducci of Fox Sports, it was “awesome.”