Spencer Strider Delivers Braves a Lights Out Rehab Start in Triple-A

The Atlanta Braves' starting pitcher cruised on Tuesday night, with many boxes appearing to be checked off

The Braves starter was electric in his latest outing | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Spencer Strider tore through hitters in his latest rehab start. The Atlanta Braves’ right-hander took the mound on Tuesday night for Triple-A Gwinnett, going 4 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out eight. 

The radar gun lit up when he showed the fastball, with it topping out at 98.1 mph. Five of his strikeouts came on the heater, and the other three came on the slider.

He stretched out to exactly 65 pitches, 15 more than he threw on Thursday when he took the mound for High-A Rome. 

Strider said he felt that during this time, he had had the chance to get more in tune with himself. Perhaps some things just work out the way they were meant to. 

“Maybe that’s the silver lining of this injury, and the time it afforded me to kind of take what I had done in spring and you know refine some things,” Strider said. “Hopefully, it sets me up to be of use to the team for the rest of the season.” 

Having his usual catcher, Sean Murphy, behind the dish, while he also goes through a rehab assignment, helped. There was a comfort factor. 

“Definitely a luxury for this,” he said. “As well as he knows me, as many times as he’s caught me, certainly capable of saying, Hey, let’s just get deep into the game. I just kind of let him worry about that, and I’ll execute from there.” 

Strider is working his way back from an oblique strain that he suffered right as spring training was coming to a close. Initially, the hope was that it would cost him a start or two, but that went out the window quickly. 

Manager Walt Weiss said that he expected Spencer Strider to take the remainder of the month to build back up. That would mean at least one more rehab start, perhaps even another one beyond that. 

“I think, for obvious reasons, to be capable of going to 100 pitches-plus confidently,” he said. “It just presents a lot of risks to the team when you can’t give a full start. So, yeah, that’s just part of the process, and I’m just gonna try to follow the lead on that one.” 

If he were to build up at the same rate in his next start, he would be at 80 pitches, which would have him at 95 pitches for the following start. That would be a starter’s workload, but if he wants to be at 100 or more pitches, or perhaps get some more work in at around at least 95 to 100 before being activated, that could require a couple more times through the rotation with Gwinnett. 

We’ll see what the Braves ultimately decide. If he looked good, and they’re confident they can get five or six innings out of him after his next start, then he could be ready for action. 

As of Wednesday morning, the starting rotation consists of Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and Martín Pérez. Despite his solid stretch, Pérez is likely the odd man out when Strider needs to take a spot in the rotation. 

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