Spencer Strider Breaks his own Strikeout Record
With all the success of the football program and the players that Dabo Swinney has sent to the NFL is it possible that the best current professional athlete from Clemson is a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves?
Spencer Strider is an All-Star for the team with the best record in baseball and on Tuesday, just beat his own record for the fastest in a season to record 200 strikeouts. It should be noted that last year was his rookie season so he has, in fact, set a Major League Baseball record twice in the only two years that he has had the opportunity.
Spencer Strider (Atlanta Braves)
The way he broke the record will be notable to fans as well. In the first inning, the Braves flamethrower stood on the mound to face Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani. The same player that All-Star third baseman Austin Riley proclaimed to reporters the night before, "We'll all be talking about 100 years from now." Spencer Strider blew him away in 3 pitches and set the record.
For the game, Strider tallied 9 total strikeouts to give him a total of 208 on the season. He also got his 12th win of the year moving him to a record of 12-3. He pitched 6.2 innings, giving up 5 hits and only 1 run. The performance lowered his ERA to 3.68 on the year and helped buoy the Braves to their 68th win of the season. They currently hold a 3 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles for the best record in baseball and that's in large part thanks to a starting rotation held down by the 24-year-old. If the first year and 105 games are any indication, there will be plenty more records to celebrate for Strider in the not-too-distant future.