Breaking Down Braves Spencer Strider Sim Game, Snitker Addresses Velo

The Atlanta Braves starter tossed a sim game on Wednesday, and there wasn't concern about his status related to velocity

Strider's next course of action is to be determined | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Spencer Strider took the mound for a sim game on Wednesday ahead of the Atlanta Braves game against the Washington Nationals.

He pitched five sim "innings" against some Triple-A hitters (Conner Capel and Cody Milligan being two fo them) who drove down from Gwinnett to participate. He was able to throw more than 60% of his pitches for strikes and made use of five pitches: four-seamer, slider, changeup, cutter and curveball.

Strider also played in the field a bit, simulating grounds and slow rollers back to the mound. Most were tossed over to first, but one was sent over to second base - work on getting the lead runners and turning two.

His four-seamer sat between 93 and 94 with a couple that hit 95. It's just below his average velocity from his lone start of the season (95.4 mph), but that game saw him touch just below 98 mph.

Braves manager Brian Snitker acknolwedged the lower velocity, but didn't show immediate concern. He was in a different environment than an actual live game.

"There's not the juices flowing like there are when you're playing a real game," Snitker said.

Strider's health was reported to be good by Snitker. He saw the use of all of his pitches to be a good sign too. He was very happy with the choice to opt for a sim game and keep Strider for another outing in the controlled environment.

As for the velocity, Snitker also encouraged patience as he gets back to full strength.

"It's going to take him repetitions and starts in order to build that velocity back," he said. "That's just, I think, normal for anyboyd that's been off for the time that he has."

Pitching coach Rick Kranitz said the sim game went well from his eyes too. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Justin Toscano, Kranitz paid more attention to the how the pitches looked more than he did velocity. He was impressed with how Strider held his stuff throughout, especially in the fifth "inning."

The next course of action is yet to be determined. Both returning straight to the team and a rehab assignment are both still in play.