Braves Briefing: Even in a loss, Spencer Strider is him

Despite losing 3-0 Friday night to the Toronto Blue Jays, Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider was very impressive.

The young record-breaking pitcher found a new level of dominance Friday night. He forced 32 swings and misses throughout the Blue Jays lineup, a new career high for Strider. His 110 pitches were also a career-high. Strider is just the sixth pitcher since 1900 to record nine double-digit strikeout outings in his first 28 starts in his career.

(Ed: The full list? Dwight Gooden, Hideo Nomo, Bob Feller, Kerry Wood, and Al Downing. Not bad company, yeah?)

Sean Murphy is a STUD

The Brave catcher had the rare hitless day, but he still made his presence felt. After George Springer hit an RBI single in the 5th, Kevin Kiermaier tried to score a second run after the throw went into Ozzie Albies at 2nd. As Ozzie fired it home, Murphy fielded the throw up the first base line and pivoted around, lunging to the plate and tagging Kiermaier on the side just before he swiped the plate.

Murphy continues to grade out as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, not only measuring out in the top 20 of all catchers with +2 blocks above average, #7 at +2 caught stealing above average but also sitting in the 1st place for framing with +4 catcher framing runs already in the 2023 season.

Combine that with his offensive prowess, where he's second in all of baseball in OPS (1.007) and RBIs (32), and he's currently the most valuable player on the team not named Ronald Acuña Jr.

NL East Standings

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Atlanta	25-13	-	@ Toronto
Philadelphia	19-19	6.0	@ Colorado
Miami	19-20	6.5	Hosts Cincinnati
NYM	19-20	6.5	@ Washington
Washington	16-22	9.0	Hosts NYM

We wrote it

Braves Today's Jake Mastroianni tackled our takeaways Friday night. He pointed out the odd decision to go to Danny Young when manager Brian Snitker took Spencer Strider out of the game.

In the end, it didn't matter because the Braves didn't score a run, but the decision to remove Strider in the 7th with 2 outs for Danny Young was a head-scratcher. While he's been good for the Braves this year, that's not who you want out there in a pivotal moment of a close game. He walked the lefty he came in to get, walked another, and allowed a second run to be charged to Strider on a wild pitch.
The decision is likely the effect of the rotation issues. Had Dylan Lee not had to start the other day, he's likely the option there.
And with another potential bullpen game coming on Sunday, manager Brian Snitker didn't want to waste any of his best arms in a game they were losing -- even if it was just a 1-run game.
This was one of the more frustrating games of the year to watch, even with the incredible performance of Strider mixed in.

READ: Takeaways - Offense Wastes a Brilliant Start from Spencer Strider

How to Watch

Game two has a 3:07 ET first pitch. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast, and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.