Braves Rumors: Trade for familiar face, Jesse Chavez injury update, Strider struggles

Braves Rumors: Spencer Strider struggles sounding some alarms

Spencer Strider’s start to the 2023 season was the stuff of legends, the type of performance that you could put on par with the things that Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz did for the Atlanta Braves. The young ace became the fastest pitcher to reach 100 strikeouts in a season while sporting a 1.80 ERA through the month of April and looking like a shoo-in for the NL Cy Young if he kept it up.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t done that. Yes, he’s still one of the best strikeout artists in baseball, but the numbers overall have taken a big hit.

Over his last six starts, Strider has an ERA of 6.47 with a 1.43 WHIP. His biggest issue has been giving up home runs, which has been problematic, giving up 10 of the 12 homers he’s conceded all season over this span. His ERA is now at 4.12 for the season and there might be some cause for concern.

Having said that, Strider recognizes this, telling Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after his start in Game 1 of the doubleheader on Wednesday against the Tigers — a win for the Braves but another worrisome outing from the staff’s ace — that he just “has to be better”.

Being better, thankfully, might not take all of that much. One of the curious aspects of Strider’s run of dominance as a rookie last season and in the 2023 campaign to start is that he really only relies on a two-pitch mix with his fastball and a slider. The latter, however, has seen its strike rate lower over this recent skid.

Because of his limited pitch repetoire, that forces Strider to then throw his fastball for strikes, allowing opposing hitters to then be expecting the heater and, more often than we’ve seen at any point in his young career, teeing off on it. But if he can start to get the slider under control and in the strike zone, the situation should start to improve.

On the whole, there shouldn’t be any long-term concern for Spencer Strider. With some adjustments and work with his breaking pitch, he should be back to dominant form sooner rather than later, especially given that he clearly recognizes his current level of performance is a bit of an issue.