Atlanta Braves Receive Critical Update on Spencer Strider

The Atlanta Braves have received a major development with the injury to Spencer Strider

The Braves will likely avoid a serious injury with Spencer Strider | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Braves received a critical update surrounding the health of pitcher Spencer Strider. He landed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation after the team’s 7-5 loss to the New York Mets on Friday. 

Strider left that game early after the velocity on his fastball dropped precipitously, lowering to 88 miles per hour in the pitches before he left the game. 

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, an MRI on Strider’s right elbow revealed that there is no ligament damage, meaning the pitcher looks to avoid another major operation. The full extent of his injury or any prognosis is unknown at this time, but he will meet with Dr. Keith Meister later on Monday (the same doctor who performed his other surgeries). 

Any update from that meeting, including a timeline for his return from the injured list, will likely come on Tuesday. 

Strider required Tommy John surgery on that elbow while he was in school at Clemson in 2019, later requiring an internal brace surgery in April 2024. He returned from the latest injury last season, starting 23 games. He struggled over those 125.1 innings, finishing his year with a 4.45 ERA and 131 strikeouts (a far cry from his 2023 season when he finished with a 3.86 ERA and an MLB-best 281 strikeouts over 32 starts). 

His 2026 season has been similarly up and down, with the starter dealing with various ailments already this season. He has started eight games (39.0 innings pitched), where he has recorded a 5.31 ERA and 46 strikeouts. 

This update is the best possible result for the Braves, who have already been without several starters over the first half of the season. Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep have not made an appearance for the club this season, and losing Strider would be another major blow to an already depleted rotation. 

Instead, the Braves will look to navigate the next several weeks without a starter. It is a frustrating situation for them, but a much better scenario than potentially losing Stride for another year or more. 

The Braves have the day off on Monday after dropping a second consecutive series for the first time this season. They will welcome the San Francisco Giants to Truist Park on Tuesday for a three-game series, and will wrap their homestand with a surging Milwaukee Brewers for a second three-game series that ends on Sunday. 

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