It was a short lived return for Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider who made his season debut on April 16th vs. the Toronto Blue Jays, but will now hit the injured list with a hamstring injury.
Strider, who was pitching for the first time since sustaining an elbow injury which cost him all but 2 games in 2024, is believed to have sustained a right hamstring strain while playing catch prior to the team’s game vs. St. Louis on Monday. He’ll now be placed on the 15 day IL as Atlanta’s injury woes continue to mount in the early going this year.
“It was just one of those freak things,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You can do everything right and still have something happen, which he does. It’s just a freak thing. He was just getting a feel for his arm the day before he pitches…It wasn’t anything accelerated or strenuous.”
The 26 year old was scheduled to start Tuesday’s game, but the injury will once again throw the Braves rotation into flux. The club has yet to confirm a starter opposite St. Louis’ Andre Pallante for the 7:15pm ET showdown against the Cardinals, though they could be in line for a bullpen day at this rate.
In a corresponding move, the club recalled RHP Michael Petersen from Triple-A. Petersen has appeared in one contest with Atlanta in 2025, pitching two scoreless innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 13th. The Braves also acquired Scott Blewett from the Orioles in exchange for cash on Sunday, making either pitcher a potential “opener” for Tuesday’s contest.
Strider now joins Ronald Acuna Jr., and Reynaldo Lopez amongst others on the Braves injured list. Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach threw 7 innings of 2 run ball on 92 pitches with 5 strikeouts vs. St. Louis yesterday. That leaves Chris Sale, Grant Holmes, and Bryce Elder as options over the next several days.
AJ Smith Shawver started for Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday, so he wouldn’t be an option until at least Wednesday if the club wants to keep their hurlers on regular rotations.
After starting off the year with an atrocious 0-7 record, Atlanta has since rebounded by going 7-2 at home to crawl their way out of the NL East basement. Now sitting at 9-13, they have a ways to go to catch the division leading Mets (16-7), but have at least shown signs of life offensively.
After the team wraps up their series vs. St. Louis at home on Wednesday, they’ll hit the road for a 6 game road trip against the Diamondbacks and Rockies, before they host the Dodgers on May 2nd. Los Angeles swept the Braves earlier this season when the two clubs first met.
Photo: Andrew Nyr. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.