Braves: Spencer Strider Takes Another Big Step in Tough Loss

Even though the Atlanta Braves ultimately lost a tough game to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, they got a huge win with Spencer Strider. 

While the Atlanta Braves would have loved to get a huge series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, there were still some big positives from that game you can take away for the future.

Michael Harris showed why he might already be the best defensive center fielder in baseball.

But the biggest positive from Sunday’s game was the continued evolution of Spencer Strider.

Coming off his worst outing since being moved to the starting rotation in which he gave up 6 ER on 6 hits and 1 walk and lasted just 3.2 innings, Strider responded in a big way Sunday night.

His final line looked like this: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 7 Ks.

Strider threw 95 pitches in this game — 64 fastballs, 25 sliders, and 6 change-ups. He got 16 swings-and-misses, including 8 on the slider on 14 swings (57% whiff rate).

One of the biggest things for me was that his fastball velocity was back up. He averaged 98.2 MPH, which is right in line with his season average.

In his last start, his fastball average was down to 96.7 MPH.

But beyond that, there was a stark difference in the way Strider utilized that velocity in this game.

Instead of coming out guns blazing from the start as we’ve seen in the past, it seemed like he made a conscious effort to reserve the extra-high velocity in big spot.

Take the first batter of the game for example. He threw four fastballs to Trea Turner, the first three were 97.9, 98.3, and 98.5 MPH.

The final fastball was 100.2 — a swing-and-miss for a strikeout.

To start the second inning he went 95.6, 96.7, and 98 MPH to Max Muncy, and then with two strikes he threw one 99.5 MPH and got a flyout.

The last two batters he faced in the fifth inning he used the same strategy — 97-98 early in the at-bat and then he put them away with 99.6 and 99.9 respectively.

What this also does is gives him the ability to still hit that top velocity late into the game. In the sixth, he had fastball velocities of 99.3, 99.9, 99.4, 99.3, 99, and 99.7.

This is a huge step in the evolution of Strider as a starter knowing to save some in the tank for big situations.

The loss Sunday night is hard to get over, but it helps when you can dream about the future of Spencer Strider with the Braves as he continues to grow in this role.