Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider was absolutely brilliant for the team a season ago, finishing fourth in the National League Cy Young voting.
However, the former Rookie of the Year runner-up struggled some down the stretch. That included giving up 21 earned runs in his final six regular-season starts. The 25-year-old righty also lost each of his two starts against the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series.
Heading into his third full season with the Braves, the onus is now on Strider to be as dominant as ever if they want to accomplish their ultimate goal of winning the World Series.
There is certainly some good news on this front heading into the Braves’ season opener against the aforementioned Phillies on Thursday.
Strider is coming off an absolutely dominant run in Spring Training. Per MLB, his 0.79 ERA was the lowest among pitchers during the spring with over 20 innings pitched since Clayton Kershaw back in 2018.
He made six starts during the spring in Florida, pitching to a 3-1 record. Strider struck out a whopping 35 batters in 22.2 innings while boasting a 1.02 WHIP.
“He has set that bar pretty high, and this spring has been no different,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, via MLB.com. “Just the way he goes about it and everything, I can’t say enough about him.”
While we typically wouldn’t make a big deal of stats during the spring, this certainly bodes well for Atlanta moving forward.
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A dominant Spencer Strider could help Atlanta Braves compete in National League
We know the biggest story heading into Opening Day on Thursday is the Los Angeles Dodgers. Their offseason spending spree coupled with the current Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal are headline makers.
However, Atlanta has flown under the radar during an extent heading into the 2024 season. Here’s a team that won 104 games last season before another premature exit in the MLB Playoffs.
The time is now for manager Brian Snitker and Co. to take that next step. Given his body of work, Strider will play a huge role in this.
- Spencer Strider career stats: 32-10 record, 3.37 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 13.6 Ks per 9
Atlanta added seven-time All-Star Chris Sale to the mix in a trade with the Boston Red Sox this past winter. After making just 31 starts over the past three seasons, he looked pretty decent during the spring. That included posting a 3.86 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with 17 strikeouts in 11.2 innings.
Max Fried will also be the Braves’ No. 2 behind Strider. He has shown in the past an ability to be an ace-type pitcher at this level.
The Braves’ rotation will be key as they look to come out of the National League this season. We already know that they have one of the top lineups in baseball with the likes of Ronald Acuna, Austin Riley, Matt Olson and Sean Murphy doing their thing.
Starting Thursday against Philadelphia, the early portion of Atlanta’s schedule will be a litmus test. After taking on the Phillies, this team must compete with the reigning National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets for a total of seven games over the first two weeks of the season.