Spencer Strider Receives First Career Opening Day Start for Braves
The Atlanta Braves, while trying to figure out who should be the fifth starter and who gets the final bench role, had one more question to answer during Grapefruit League action:
Who should be the Opening Day starter?
Now we know, with the announcement that Spencer Strider will get the ball for game one of the season in Philadelphia. Strider, who led all of baseball in strikeouts last season with 281, will be making his first career Opening Day start. He'll be facing Philly's Zack Wheeler.
Strider's Opening Day nod breaks the streak of Max Fried, who started the last three Opening Day matchups for the Braves.
In his career, Strider has faced Philadelphia eleven times. In eight regular season matchups (seven starts) against the Phillies, Strider's 8-0 with a 1.90 ERA, striking out 72 in his 47.1 innings.
The three postseason appearances are a different story for Strider, who is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA. He's struck out nineteen but walked seven, and has allowed five home runs in his fifteen innings against the Phillies in October.
Wheeler, who is also making his first Opening Day start of his career, is 12-7 in 27 career regular-season starts again Atlanta with a 3.18 ERA. He's faced Atlanta twice in the postseason, taking the loss in 2022's NLDS Game Two and getting a no-decision in 2023's NLDS Game Two.
Similar to Strider, Wheeler's nod is also breaking a streak, as Aaron Nola has made six consecutive Opening Day starts but is giving way to Wheeler this spring.