63 articles
ATL • Pitcher • #99
1 day ago
Strider struck out eight and walked two with his fastball velocity up 1.8 mph from his season debut against the Rockies on Sunday. That’s pretty exciting, but it’s still worth wondering why his stuff was so much better tonight than it was six days ago. Anticipating consistency from Strider seems like a bad idea, but it’s nice to know that he has performances like tonight in him. His next start figures to come at home against the Red Sox.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 days ago
Strider struck out six, but control was an unusually big issue for him in Coors Field. Also discouraging was that he averaged only 94.6 mph with his fastball, down from 95.5 mph in his two Triple-A starts. 95.5 mph was also what he averaged last year, and that was down about two mph from where he was pre-surgery. We were growing a little more optimistic about Strider based on his minor league performances, but this seems like a setback. Of course, it was Coors. He has another tough assignment next weekend against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 days ago
The 27-year-old right-hander will make his highly anticipated season debut on Sunday against the Rockies at Coors Field. He looked sharp during his recent minor league rehab assignments, but fantasy managers should probably wait and see what he looks like on Sunday before trying to rush him back into lineups.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
12 days ago
Strider returns to Atlanta’s rotation mix following a five-week absence recovering from an oblique strain. The 27-year-old velocity and underlying pitch data were extremely encouraging during recent minor league rehab outings, which inspires some confidence fantasy-wise heading into his season debut at hitter-friendly Coors Field. He’s worth the risk in deeper mixed leagues, but fantasy managers in shallow formats are probably best served with a wait-and-see approach before slotting Strider back into lineups.
Source: Mark Bowman
ATL • Pitcher • #99
13 days ago
Atlanta hasn’t finalized their pitching plan for the remainder of the week, but Strider will be part of it, most likely on Sunday in place of journeyman Martín Pérez, after missing the opening five weeks of the season recovering from an oblique strain. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace shouldn’t have any workload restrictions after throwing 82 pitches during his final rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett over the weekend. It’s a challenging spot having to contend with Coors Field’s high-octane offensive environment right out of the gate, but Strider is probably going to be worth the risk for managers in deeper fantasy leagues that have been stashing him this long.
Source: Mark Bowman
ATL • Pitcher • #99
14 days ago
Strider was still sitting just 95 mph with his four-seam fastball, but he did maintain that velocity through five innings, so that’s a positive. His slider had a 61 percent strike rate and 54 percent whiff rate, and he threw 61 percent of his 82 pitches for strikes overall. It’s hard to see the Braves keeping him in the minors much longer. They have shifted around their rotation with Reynaldo Lopez heading to the bullpen, and Martin Perez starting on Tuesday. That would make it very easy for Strider to pitch this weekend in Perez’s spot. However, that game is in Coors, and Strider still does not look like his pre-surgery self, so we would proceed with caution.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
15 days ago
He’ll take the mound for Triple-A Gwinnett with the intention of pushing his pitch count to around 80 pitches after throwing 65 over 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball his last time out. If all goes well with this one, there’s a chance that he could then be cleared to join the Braves’ rotation as early as next weekend.
Source: Grant McAuley
ATL • Pitcher • #99
20 days ago
As far as rehab outings go, this one was impressive. Strider’s fastball velocity ticked up significantly from early spring outings as he averaged 95.9 mph on his heater while topping out at 98.1 in this one. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace sustained his velocity throughout the 65-pitch outing while generating 15 swinging strikes, with 10 of those coming on his slider. He’ll likely require at least one additional tune-up to further increase his pitch count before returning to Atlanta’s rotation for his season debut in early May.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
22 days ago
Strider, 27, went 3 1/3 innings in his start for High-A Rome while not allowing a run. The 27-year-old will likely need to make a couple more rehab appearances, but could be an option for Atlanta — and fantasy managers, in turn — by the start of May.
Source: Chad Bishop
ATL • Pitcher • #99
24 days ago
The 27-year-old right-hander struck out three batters on the night, though he only threw 27 of his 50 pitches for strikes in the ballgame. The most encouraging part of his start is that his fastball sat in the 95-97 mph range. He’s going to need at least a couple more rehab starts before he’s an option to join the Braves’ rotation.
Source: MiLB
ATL • Pitcher • #99
27 days ago
Strider is expected to throw roughly 40-45 pitches during his rehab debut. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace will need at least a handful of tune-up outings before he’s ready to make his season debut, likely at some point in early May. He’s been on the shelf recovering from an oblique strain since the late stages of spring training.
Source: Mark Bowman
ATL • Pitcher • #99
30 days ago
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman is guessing that Strider will begin a rehab assignment Thursday or Friday. Three rehab starts followed by an early May return to the Braves rotation might be the plan here.
Source: Mark Bowman
ATL • Pitcher • #99
about 1 month ago
The 27-year-old will be battling some of his teammates in a live batting practice session. If all goes well with that session, he could be cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment. He’ll then require several starts there to get fully ramped up before joining the Braves’ rotation — likely in early May.
Source: Chad Bishop
ATL • Pitcher • #99
about 1 month ago
Atlanta skipper Walt Weiss told reporters Strider completed Tuesday’s bullpen session without any issues and will advance to facing hitters his next time. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace isn’t too far off from a minor league rehab assignment and could potentially be ready for his season debut at some point in May.
Source: Chad Bishop
ATL • Pitcher • #99
about 1 month ago
Strider remains without a firm timeline to begin a minor league rehab assignment, which is likely to last several weeks. He’ll need to progress to facing hitters before he’s ready for rehab starts. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace has been on the shelf since the end of spring training recovering from an oblique strain. It’s starting to look like some point in May might be an optimistic goal at this juncture.
Source: MLB.com
ATL • Pitcher • #99
about 1 month ago
Strider has been shelved since the end of spring training due to an oblique strain. It sounds like if everything goes well with Friday’s bullpen session that he’ll be cleared to face live hitters. He’s going to need at least a couple of weeks to ramp back up, which should include multiple minor league rehab starts. Even if he’s able to avoid any setbacks along the way, it seems unlikely that he’ll be ready to join the Braves’ rotation before the end of April at the earliest.
Source: Chad Bishop
ATL • Pitcher • #99
about 1 month ago
Strider remains without a definitive return timeline after hitting the injured list at the conclusion of spring training with an oblique strain. The polarizing 27-year-old former fantasy ace will need at least a handful of minor league rehab starts to build up his pitch count and stamina before he’s ready to rejoin Atlanta’s injury-ravaged rotation. It’s possible he’ll be ready by the end of April, but that might be an optimistic assumption.
Source: Mark Bowman
ATL • Pitcher • #99
about 2 months ago
Strider remains without a definitive return timeline after suffering an oblique strain during the late stages of spring training. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace has been one of the most polarizing arms in the entire fantasy landscape this spring. There should be a clearer timetable for his return to Atlanta’s injury-plagued rotation once he’s cleared to resume throwing. His absence puts José Suarez in the rotation with Didier Fuentes functioning as a multi-inning relief weapon.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
about 2 months ago
The good news is that the injury is not related to his arm. The bad news is that, because of pitching mechanics, oblique strains can sideline pitchers for four to six weeks. Strider will not be able to throw while he manages the pain and inflammation. He will then begin some strengthening exercises and work his way back onto the mound and have to ramp up his pitch count again. Fantasy managers should expect Strider back in the rotation sometime in early May. Until then, the Braves will likely turn to either Jose Suarez or Didier Fuentes in their starting rotation; however, they could also decide to add any of Martin Perez, Carlos Carrasco, or JR Ritchie to their 40-man roster as well.
Source: Mark Bowman
ATL • Pitcher • #99
2 months ago
Strider was sharp today, but he didn’t build on his velocity gains from his second time out; he averaged 94.8 mph with his fastball, which is a tad down from 95.0 mph on Thursday and his 95.5 mph last season. There’s plenty of reason to hope that 2026 Strider will be a fair amount better than 2025 Strider, but he’s yet to give much reason to think that 2022/23 Strider will be walking through that door.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
2 months ago
Strider wasn’t great today, but the important thing was that his velocity was back up. He averaged 95.9 mph with his fastball during his first inning of work and 95.0 mph for the day. That latter mark is still down 0.5 mph from last year, but it’s 1.9 mph better than in his spring debut last week. Ideally, he’ll keep building from there and get a bit closer to the 97.2 mph he averaged while winning 20 games in 2023.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
2 months ago
Strider’s four-seam fastball velocity was down over two miles per-hour from last year as he averaged just 93.1 mph in this early-spring outing. He generated just three swinging strikes and finished with a 19 percent CSW on 32 pitches. The positive news is that he allowed just three batted balls with exit velocities over 95 mph. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace is one of the riskier mid-round selections in drafts this spring as his velocity and command simply haven’t returned to pre-surgery levels.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 months ago
Strider got 15 whiffs on 40 swings today, but he also gave up eight hits. Nine of the 19 balls in play against him were hit at least 99 mph. Strider ends his first year back from Tommy John surgery 7-14 with a 4.45 ERA and a 24.3% strikeout rate. His average fastball was down 1.7 mph from 2023, when he struck out 36.8% of the batters he faced. One imagines he’ll put in a lot of work this winter in trying to improve his diminished vertical break on his fastball. He probably shouldn’t be looked at as top-20 SP for 2026, but he could move back into that territory if he looks particularly good in the spring.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 months ago
Strider gave up six hits, walked three and struck out six. The 26-year-old right-hander has allowed two runs or less in four of his last five starts. Strider lowered his ERA to 4.45, the lowest it’s been since early August. He’s lined up to face the Pirates at home in the final weekend of the regular season.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 months ago
The 2025 season has been a relatively massive disappointment for Strider, but the last two starts were a nice reminder of why the expectations are so high. The 26-year-old allowed four hits and two walks, and he struck out six while lowering his ERA to 4.64 and improving his record to 6-13 on the season. Strider remains a bit of a risky proposition for the remainder of 2025, but shouldn’t be ignored in 2026. He’ll make at least one more start Sunday against the Tigers in Detroit.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 months ago
The 26-year-old right-hander scattered six hits on the evening while issuing three walks. The Cubs scratched out two early runs against him — on a sacrifice fly by Pete Crow-Armstrong in the first inning and an RBI single by Crow-Armstrong in the third. Strider got a whopping 16 swings and misses on 97 pitches on the night — nine on his slider — while registering a CSW of 33 percent. Now 5-13 on the season, Strider will carry a disappointing 4.86 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a 114/44 K/BB ratio (107 1/3 innings) into Monday’s matchup against the Nationals in Washington.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 months ago
The decision to push Strider back to Atlanta’s upcoming series against the Cubs isn’t injury-related, according to the club. It’ll be lefty Joey Wentz taking the ball for Sunday afternoon’s matinee in his place. The hard-throwing 26-year-old, who is tentatively scheduled to start on Tuesday night, is coming off a lackluster performance his time out against the Cubs on Monday where he notched only one strikeout and surrendered three runs over five innings. He’s no longer occupying real estate in must-start territory for fantasy purposes at this advanced stage of the season.
Source: Mark Bowman
ATL • Pitcher • #99
8 months ago
Not only did Strider only generate one strikeout Monday, the 26-year-old was only able to generate four swings-and-misses over 88 pitches. This version of Strider has been hard to watch, and he now has forged a 4.97 ERA in his 101 1/3 innings. It’s weird to say, but there’s more risk than reward in starting Strider against Seattle on Sunday.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
9 months ago
Finally an encouraging outing from Spencer, whose induced vertical break on his fastball was back up to 18 inches for the first time since his third start of the year. It had typically been under 16 inches these last two months. He struck out just three, but he also allowed only three hits after giving up 29 over 11 2/3 innings in his first three starts this month. Strider will face the Phillies in Philadelphia on Sunday, making him a rather risky play in shallow leagues.
ATL • Pitcher • #99
9 months ago
It’s unclear if he’ll pitch on Monday or Tuesday against the Mets, but he won’t pitch on Sunday as he had previously been scheduled. Cal Quantrill will slot into the Braves’ rotation on Saturday with Bryce Elder taking the ball on Sunday.
Source: Mark Bowman