MLB Rumors: Cardinals plan, Braves record broken, Jacob deGrom
By Mark Powell
MLB Rumors: Spencer Strider breaks a Braves record
The Atlanta Braves have two aces, if not more. Their rotation is made up of Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Kyle Wright and Charlie Morton. Morton is a postseason pitching machine, Strider has some of the best stuff in baseball, Fried can induce a ground ball pretty much anywhere on the infield and Wright had 20-plus wins last season.
It’s not all that fair. Now that Fried and Wright are back in the fold, the Braves are on an eight-game winning streak, and a dominant one at that.
Strider matched a record set by John Smoltz in Tuesday night’s victory. Both Smoltz and now Strider had eight straight starts in which they recorded at least nine strikeouts. Strider can break that mark his next time out, if he’s lucky.
“We’re playing good ball right now. Things are going our way,” Strider said, per The Athletic. “You want to ride that momentum. But it’s all about being good when you need to be at the end of the year. So hopefully we can just learn from it and try and carry it on.”
Smoltz, a Baseball Hall of Famer and Braves legend, was one of the more explosive starting pitchers of his time. In many ways, Strider is similar in that regard.
Perhaps the scariest thing about Strider is that he’s still young and learning his game. This is the first start all season he “felt like himself,” per the right-hander. Who knows what’s in store next time out?