Spencer Strider is back. That’s the good news for the Atlanta Braves.
The bad news, from Strider’s perspective at least, is that he may need to ease himself back into MLB play.
He’s been off the big-league mound for the past 376 days as he recovered from a UCL injury in his right elbow. Strider got the start on Wednesday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre, and the Braves were undoubtedly happy to see him back.
He did struggle a bit, though, especially with his command. In five innings pitched, Strider gave up five hits and two earned runs. He did strikeout five, which is nice, but he walked one batter, hit another and just 58 of his 97 pitches thrown were strikes.
After the contest, Strider did feel he could pinpoint where he was struggling, and that’s the first step toward getting better.
“For me, didn’t do a good job of executing with two strikes,” Strider said, according to the AP via ESPN. “Felt like my off-speed [pitches] didn’t have a lot of conviction, a lot of consistency. That makes it hard to pitch.”
He also wasn’t necessarily happy with his outing. Sure, He was playing for the first time in over a year, and that’s a big deal, but he’s not looking for participation trophies for just showing up.
“My job isn’t to come back and have a moment and all that,” he explained. “That’s not how I look at it. I’m here to help the team.”
Strider has been in the big leagues since 2021. He has a career 3.47 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. He was an All-Star and Cy Young candidate in 2023 after posting a 20-5 win-loss record with a 3.86 ERA and 281 strikeouts.
