Braves’ Spencer Strider Fans Six in Return From Tommy John Surgery
Spencer Strider proved he’s still one of the sport’s most electrifying arms as he returned to game action for the Atlanta Braves on Monday, making his first start of the spring against the Boston Red Sox.
The highly-anticipated outing came almost a year after he underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery last April, tossing 2.2 perfect innings at CoolToday Park. He struck out six of the eight batters he faced, five of which were retired consecutively.
The 26-year-old righty rattled off a pair of three-pitch strikeouts to conclude the first inning before punching out the side in his second frame of work.
“That was good,” Strider told reporters of his dominant spring debut, including ESPN’s Buster Olney. “It was like a little reward sprinkled on the pathway, a good test for the work you’ve been doing.”
Strider recorded the first two outs of the third, with the second becoming his sixth and final strikeout of the day. But he started walking towards Atlanta’s dugout afterwards, briefly forgetting how many outs there were.
“I have not pitched in a while, so I forget how many outs there are in an inning,” Strider said jokingly. “I was not a math major in college, either, so counting to three is a big chore for me.
“I think I got a little ahead of myself and forgot that they had to come get me, and I can’t just walk off. I have to have adult supervision.”
The Braves capped Strider’s first spring outing at 27 pitches and will aim to continue building up his stamina in the final week of Cactus League action. He’ll likely have time to make one final start before big-league camp breaks ahead of their Opening-Day matchup versus the San Diego Padres on March 27th.
Once he fully completes his rehab, the 2023 All-Star will serve as an integral piece of the Braves’ starting rotation again, just as he did prior to last season. Until then, Chris Sale – the reigning NL Cy Young winner, who’ll take the ball on Opening Day at Petco Park – as well as Reynaldo López and Spencer Schwellenbach will help carry the freight as the top three-fifths of their staff.
Grant Holmes and Ian Anderson will likely follow that trio to round out Atlanta’s starting five once this season begins. However, AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep remain in competition for the final starter’s role this spring.
Heading into last season, Strider was projected as the Braves ace following a dominant 2023 performance, which saw him post career-highs in starts (32), innings pitched (186.2), wins (20), strikeouts (281, an MLB-high) and fWAR (5.5). He also recorded a 3.86 ERA and 2.85 FIP, producing a 29.2-percent K-BB% – 0.5 shy of matching his career-best from ‘22.
Monday’s spectacular spring debut was another reminder of the significant impact that a fully healthy Strider can bring. Now, nearly 12 months removed from surgery, the organization hopes he’ll provide that front-of-the-rotation presence across more than the two starts he made a season ago.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_