Atlanta Braves Pitcher Spencer Strider Joins Elite Company in Strikeout Surge

Atlanta Braves rookie Spencer Strider, who played at Clemson, is now mentioned in the same stat as Hall of Famers Warren Spahn and John Smoltz.

Move over, Warren Spahn and John Smoltz. You've got company.

Spencer Strider joined a short list of Atlanta Braves legends and Baseball Hall of Famers on Thursday night when he recorded 11-plus strikeouts for the second consecutive game. 

No other pitcher in franchise history besides those three has done that. 

Strider, a rookie who played at Clemson, struck out a career-high 12 batters in six scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 3-2 loss in 11 innings Thursday to give him 23 Ks in his last two starts on the mound and 30 in his last three games. 

He struck out 11 batters and allowed one run on one hit in six innings against the Cincinnati Reds in another historic performance on July 2. 

Against the Cardinals, Strider put on a show. All of his first nine outs were recorded with a strikeout, something a Braves pitcher hasn't done since at least 1961. 

"You try to control your emotions early in the game, try not to get too fired up," Strider said after Thursday's game. "Just try to execute pitches, try not to expend too much energy." 

Strider, who allowed two hits, became the first rookie pitcher since at least 1900 to record 11-plus strikeouts with two or fewer hits allowed in consecutive starts. 

Strider also entered the top-10 in strikeouts among all MLB pitchers this season. A rookie who opened the year as a reliever jumped 20 spots on the list for 2022 after Thursday. His 102 strikeouts in 65.2 innings pitched is one more than Charlie Morton (87 innings pitched) for the team lead. 

Strider sports a 13.98 strikeout-per-nine-innings rate, and he's struck out 39.1 percent of batters faced. Both of those are the highest marks in MLB among pitchers with at least 50 innings. On the season, he's 4-2 with a 2.80 earned run average.

Another strong performance has made Strider the favorite to win National League Rookie of the Year at +260, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. 

Strider, who pitched for the Tigers for just two seasons, was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft. He had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2019 and was on his way to getting back to his old form when COVID-19 ended the 2020 season in mid-March.

Strider quickly rose up the Braves farm system in 2021 and made his Big League debut last September. He was not on the playoff roster during the team's championship run, but he's been an important piece to this season's squad. 

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