Braves' Strider K's 6 of 8 batters in spring debut

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Spencer Strider returned to the mound Monday for the first time in almost a calendar year and threw 2⅔ perfect innings for the Atlanta Braves in their spring training game against the Boston Red Sox, striking out six of the eight batters he faced.

"That was good," Strider said. "It was like a little reward sprinkled on the pathway, a good test for the work you've been doing."

It was better than good; he was exceptional. Strider had two three-pitch strikeouts in the first inning, finishing former teammate Vaughn Grissom with a slider and then whipping a 98 mph fastball past the motionless Roman Anthony for strike three. He struck out the side in the second inning, deploying three different pitches to close out the three Boston hitters.

Strider had elbow surgery last April, after he was diagnosed with damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, an injury that was the first in a wave that hit the Braves last season. Spencer went into spring training of 2024 among the favorites to win the NL Cy Young Award, and now he is working his way back toward rejoining the Braves' rotation -- perhaps sometime in mid- or late April.

With his outing against the Red Sox, Strider started his game progression toward a regular season return to what is already a good Atlanta starting rotation. In a sense, Strider is just starting his exhibition season, and if all goes smoothly in his next starts, he'll slowly build his pitch counts.

Chris Sale won the NL Cy Young Award last year, and on Monday morning, Sale was formally announced as the Braves' starter on Opening Day. But Sale spoke of how dynamic Strider is as a pitcher, with his high-riding, high-velocity fastball; in 2023, Strider led the majors with 281 strikeouts.

"Let's not forget, he's still the best pitcher on this team," Sale said.

Strider responded, "He's delusional ... I am certainly appreciative of that statement. I don't agree with it."

Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach are also part of the Atlanta rotation. Ian Anderson, Grant Holmes and AJ Smith-Shawver are competing for the fifth spot. Strider, who has grown a full beard around the moustache for which he is known, has the ability to augment the Braves in what is likely to be a highly competitive NL East.

Strider was welcomed warmly by the fans here when he took the mound, and the reaction from the stands grew with each subsequent strikeout. Hitters and pitchers don't game-plan in spring training the way they will in the regular season, but Strider's sequence of pitches and his stuff -- a mix of mid-90s fastballs, sliders, changeups and curves -- overwhelmed the Red Sox hitters.

Strider threw a 96 mph fastball past Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer to get to 1-2 count and then spun a curveball that was 17 mph slower, with Mayer flailing over the top.

Strider knew as he went out to start the third inning that he probably would face only a couple of batters. After he struck out his final hitter of the day, punctuating the delivery with his pronounced follow-through, he took a couple of steps toward the Braves' dugout. In the moment, he did not realize that there were just two outs.

"I have not pitched in a while, so I forget how many outs there are in an inning," he said, smiling. "I was not a math major in college, either, so counting to three is a big chore for me.

"I think I got a little ahead of myself and forgot that they had to come get me, and I can't just walk off. I have to have adult supervision."

He'll figure that part out in the weeks ahead. He appears to have a lot of the pitching part down already.