Braves Spencer Strider Officially Set to Begin Rehab Assignment

The Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, the Gwinnett Stripers, announced on Friday that all-star starting pitcher Spencer Strider will officially join them for his rehab assignment.

He will make his first rehab start on Saturday on the road against the Charlotte Knights. First pitch for that game is set for 6:05 p.m.

It marks just the second career Triple-A appearance for Strider. He debuted with the Stripers in relief on September 29, 2021 vs. the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. In that outing, he struck out three over a scoreless inning.

In a report from MLB.com’s Mark Bowman earlier on Friday, it’s likely that Strider will make about three rehab starts before he returns to Atlanta. While he’s just speculating, he added this could line up with Strider returning for the home series against the Minnesota Twins (April 18 to April 20).

Strider is finishing up his recovery from a UCL injury he suffered two starts into last season. He didn’t require Tommy John surgery, but he had a brace put into his elbow.

He progressed enough to see live action during Spring Training. One start was, by definition, perfect. He retired all eight Boston Red Sox batters he faced and struck out six of them. His start against the Baltimore Orioles didn’t go as smoothly. He allowed three runs, two earned, one two hits and one walk while striking out four.

In 32 starts during his last full season, he finished with a 3.86 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP and a 109 ERA+ in 186 2/3 innings. He led the National League in strikeouts with 281. This earned him an All-Star appearance, and he finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting.

Once he’s back, FanGraphs has projected that you will see Strider be one of the top arms in the rotation. He is projected to finish with a 9-5 record, a 3.19 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 129 innings pitched, a 1.10 WHIP, a 3.2 WAR and a 3.05 FIP.

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