Braves Briefing: Spencer Strider leads MLB in strikeouts

Watching Spencer Strider pitch is fun. There's no other way to put it.

Atlanta's 11-0 win in the series opener had five home runs but the story was Strider's incredible performance.

Spencer Strider leads baseball in strikeouts

Strider's 25th career start was a gem. His 13 strikeouts in 8.0 innings of action were just five batters short of a perfect game. He had a perfect game going until a Matt Olson error in the seventh, and a no-hitter going until a Jean Segura one-out bloop hit (that Segura batflipped) in the 8th.

Jean Segura, No-Hitter Break Up Bat Flip pic.twitter.com/6YizLijF5i
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 25, 2023

Strider leads baseball with 49 strikeouts. Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom is second with 43.

NL East Standings

The only action in the NL East was the battle between the Braves and the Marlins. The rest of the division is in action Tuesday.

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Braves	15-9	-	Hosts Miami
NYM	14-9	1.0	Hosts Washington
Miami	12-11	3.0	@ Atlanta
Philadelphia	11-12	4.0	Hosts Seattle
Washington	7-14	7.0	@ NYM

We wrote it

Braves outfielder Michael Harris should return from the IL soon. Braves Today Editor-In-Chief Lindsay Crosby wrote about several players getting close to coming off of the IL.

Closer Raisel Iglesias threw live BP today, including to centerfielder Michael Harris, on the field prior to today's series opener against the Marlins. Harris's work included running the bases (complete with head first slide) and multiple at-bats against Atlanta's closer.

Talking pregame to reporters, manager Brian Snitker said that the next step for Harris would be a rehab assignment, with the destination and dates not yet announced.

Watch Atlanta Braves highlights vs Miami Marlins

What's next

First pitch for Tuesday's action is scheduled for 7:20 ET and is being broadcast by Bally Sports South. 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.