Hurston Waldrep: Everything you need to know

Atlanta activated Waldrep (elbow) from the 60-day injured list Friday and subsequently optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. The right-hander has been working his way back from offseason elbow surgery and made his third minor-league rehab start Thursday -- surrendering four runs across 3.2 innings with Double-A Columbus -- so it's an interesting decision by Atlanta to activate him now rather than simply continuing his rehab assignment in the minors. Waldrep posted a 2.88 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 55:22 K:BB across 56.1 regular-season frames in the big leagues last year and should get another look with Atlanta at some point this summer.

Waldrep (elbow) had his rehab assignment transferred to Double-A Columbus, where he will make his next start Thursday, Grant McAuley of the Marietta Daily Journal reports. The right-hander covered two frames in each of his rehab outings in the rookie level Florida Complex League, setting the stage for him to move to the upper minors. Those appearances were Waldrep's first game action since September as he works his way back from an offseason elbow procedure. He'll likely require a couple more minor-league starts after Thursday before making his 2026 debut for Atlanta.

Waldrep (elbow) allowed no hits and walked two batters over two scoreless innings during a rehab start Monday in the rookie-level Florida Complex League. Waldrep tossed 26 pitches (14 strikes) in his first official game action since September, after he ended up missing all of spring training and the first two-plus months of the season while recovering from a Feb. 23 arthroscopic procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. The 24-year-old is expected to need close to the entire 30-day rehab window to build up his pitch count and iron out his control and command, so he's unlikely to re-emerge as an option for the Atlanta rotation until late June.