Atlanta Braves’ ace Spencer Strider will miss the remainder of the 2024 season following surgery to repair the UCL in his right elbow the club announced.
“RHP Spencer Strider yesterday underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow with internal brace, performed by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, TX. He will miss the remainder of the 2024 season,” the club posted on social media Saturday morning.
The 6′ righty made only 2 starts in 2024 before alerting the team’s medical staff that he was experiencing discomfort in his throwing arm. A subsequent MRI revealed the damage to his elbow, as Atlanta & Strider sought out second opinions on the scan before ultimately opting for surgery.
The 25 year old led the majors in both wins (20) and strikeout (281) in 2023, resulting in his first All-Star appearance and a 4th place finish in Cy Young voting. Strider had posted back to back 200K + strikeout seasons since becoming a full time starter in 2022.
The loss is a major blow to the Braves’ rotation, and World Series aspirations. Despite sitting atop the NL East division with an 8-4 record through the first few weeks of the season, starting pitching was arguably Atlanta’s biggest weakness entering the 2024 campaign.
With Strider’s front of the rotation innings now up for grabs, the club will have to lean heavily on Max Fried and the newly acquired Chris Sale more than they likely would have preferred. Charlie Morton and Reynaldo Lopez will each get bumped up in the order, with 25 year old RHP Daris Vines being recalled from the Gwinnett Stripers.
The Braves are next in action Saturday against the lowly Miami Marlins in a 4:10pm ET showdown.
Photo: BullDawg2021. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Please subscribe to my blog