Braves Intend to Activate Strider, Other Injured Arms Resume Throwing

The Atlanta Braves provided an array of pitching injury updates on Tuesday ahead of their series opener against the Detroit Tigers. The highlight from manager Walt Weiss is that Spencer Strider is done with his rehab assignment. While the date of his next start is to be determined, his next start will be with the Braves.

Strider last pitched on Sunday with Triple-A Gwinnett. He's up to 82 pitches and pitched into the sixth inning. That gives him three rehab starts under his belt, and aligns with the projected timeline that he was given. Weiss said before Strider resumed action that he would likely need the remainder of April to get conditioned.

It can be presumed that Strider will see action in the upcoming road series against the Colorado Rockies. Coors Field throws him into the fire, but it lines up with the schedule that he's currently on.

Ahead of his final spring training start, Strider was scratched due to an oblique injury.

As of now, the Braves rotation is on a series-to-series basis. Some arms will remain starting pitchers, but some could potentially come out of the bullpen, such as Martín Pérez. Reynaldo López is currently pitching out of the bullpen as well.

Catcher Sean Murphy will remain in Gwinnett for now, but the Braves remain encouraged by his progress. They'll see where he's at in about four or five days.

Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim was set to start his rehab assignment with Double-A Columbus on Tuesday. However, that game has been postponed due to weather, so it's presumed he'll get underway on Wednesday.

Weiss said he has a decent amount of time ramping up ahead of him. He's in his spring training mode, in a sense, now.

Hurston Waldrep is set to throw a bullpen session soon. That first session will be in about a week or so, according to Weiss. He had an elbow procedure in spring training to remove loose bodies.

Closer Raisel Iglesias has resumed throwing as he works his way back from a shoulder injury. In the meantime, Robert Suarez is filling in as the closer, a role is more than familiar with.

Spencer Schwellenbach still isn't throwing. He's recovering from an elbow injury as well, a similar one to Waldrep. Weiss remains hopeful that Schwellenbach, who hasn't pitched for the team since June, can be back sometime this season.

The Braves will get their series underway against the Tigers on Thursday. Martín Pérez will get another start to get things underway. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.

Sign up for our free newsletter for the latest news

Add us as a preferred source on Google