MLB news

Strider was unable to make it back last season after going on the IL with elbow inflammation in June, but no surgery was required. The Braves will hope he comes back a little stronger next year, as he’s gotten very homer prone with his velocity down about three mph from his peak. He’s entering the fifth year of the six-year, $75 million extension he signed after the 2022 season.

deGrom blocked the move with his no-trade clause, but it is clear that the Braves are open to moving Strider, who is owed $22 million in each of the next two seasons. He’s been out indefinitely with right elbow inflammation, with the most recent news being that he may return as a reliever this year. The 27-year-old former ace would seem to be an available high-upside swing in the upcoming hot stove trade market.

It seems highly unlikely that Strider will return in an impactful role for Atlanta with roughly seven weeks left in the regular season. The 27-year-old is facing a lengthy ramp-up process after being shut down with elbow inflammation back in mid-June. His long-term future as a starting pitcher is in obvious jeopardy given his checkered injury history. It’s possible he’ll be built up as a reliever instead, which would theoretically give him a shot at pitching in the postseason.

“Will he ever be a starter again? Would it be best to just use him as a reliever once he returns to health? These are the questions that are being asked as we await answers,” Bowman continues. Strider’s continued absence appears likely to have the Braves searching for starting pitching at the trade deadline. Redraft fantasy managers holding on to him in an IL spot don’t necessarily have to keep doing that based on this update.

Strider will be shut down from throwing until at least mid-July and won’t make it back to Atlanta’s rotation until at least mid-August in a best-case scenario. The 27-year-old hit the injured list with elbow inflammation last weekend. It’s challenging to justify stashing Strider outside of extremely deep fantasy leagues since he’s unlikely to return until the late stages of the second half.

If that follow-up scan is clear, Strider will then begin a throwing progression, which will include full ramp-up and then facing live hitters, etc. That means it’s likely two months before we see Strider on the mound for the Braves, if all goes well, and that would be mid-August. It’s hard to recommend holding him in any redraft format.

Strider is set to meet with Dr. Keith Meister, who performed Strider’s surgery in 2024, to “just provide an indication of what the next steps will be.” That means we should have a better idea of Strider’s timeline for recovery in a couple of days. Considering he wasn’t pitching at the same level we’re used to before this injury and is now dealing with, likely, a multi-week absence, he doesn’t need to be held in leagues without multiple IL spots.

Braves manager Walt Weiss told reporters late Friday that Strider will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the injury and whether he’s dealing with any structural issues. It’s an extremely concerning development given his injury history, which already includes two elbow surgeries. The 27-year-old former fantasy ace experienced a noticeable velocity dip, which lead to his removal from Friday’s start against the Mets in the fourth inning after just 68 pitches. There should be a definitive update on his status later this weekend. Top prospect JR Ritchie, who fired five shutout innings in relief following Strider’s departure, appears to be the most logical candidate to fill his rotation spot.

“It doesn’t look great as we stand here, right now,” said Weiss after Strider experienced shoulder and elbow soreness, which led to his early exit from the fourth inning of Friday’s start against the Mets after just 68 pitches. He also experienced a significant velocity drop prior to exiting, which is never a good sign, especially for a pitcher with two elbow surgeries already on his resume. He was charged with seven runs on six hits, including three home runs, in the abbreviated outing. He struck out three and issued one walk. He’ll undergo imaging to determine the exact nature of the injury. There should be a definitive update on his status at some point this weekend. It seems highly unlikely that he’ll make his next start against the Giants on Thursday. The logical choice to fill his rotation spot would be top prospect JR Ritchie, who threw five scoreless innings following Strider’s departure.

Strider saw the velocity on his fastball drop suddenly into the 87-88 mph range in the fourth inning, which prompted the visit from the training staff and his eventual removal. He’ll head for further evaluation. Strider allowed seven runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three in his three-plus innings of work. Stay tuned.

It wasn’t pretty, but Strider got the job done. There were not many clean innings as the command of his secondaries were not sharp. That’s a problem because Strider’s fastball remains an issue. Without the elite velocity or shape of yesteryear, that fastball doesn’t miss many bats anymore and forced a grand total of zero swings-and-misses in this one. He’s gotten by with his slider plus curveball and changeup especially against left-handed batters – and the Pirates’ lineup was nearly all lefties in this one – they just weren’t as sharp here. Strider will take a 4.00 ERA, 43 strikeouts, and 19 walks over 36 innings pitched into his next scheduled start against the Mets on the road.

Strider struck out eight, but the Reds managed single runs off him in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings. It’s the third straight outing in which Strider has allowed exactly three earned runs. However, that was the product of five homers allowed over his previous two starts. There were no homers today, just singles and doubles. He’s 3-1 with a 3.77 ERA, and he’s due to face the Pirates next.

Strider gave up homers to Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela to start the top of the first, but he allowed just one more hit the rest of the way. He stayed in to start the sixth with a 5-2 lead, only to be pulled after a leadoff walk to Wilyer Abreu. Abreu later came around to score. Strider finished up with five strikeouts and 11 whiffs. He’s 3-0 with a 3.46 ERA since returning from a strained oblique, and the Braves have won all five of his starts. He’ll face the Reds on Sunday.

Strider racked up nine strikeouts on the evening while issuing two free passes. All of the damage done against him came via the long ball, with Kyle Stowers belting a pair of solo home runs and Owen Caissie adding another. The 27-year-old righty generated 15 swings and misses on 100 pitches in the contest — six of those on his slider — while posting a strong CSW of 32 percent. Now 2-0 on the season, he’ll look to keep the good times rolling as he carries a 3.00 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and a 27/12 K/BB ratio (21 innings) into Wednesday’s tilt against the Red Sox in Boston.

Strider got a pickoff in the first inning and caught stealing in the fourth and fifth inning to aid the cause tonight. He walked three and struck out just four, even though he generated 16 missed swings tonight. Opposing starter Connelly Early had six strikeouts and eight whiffs, by way of comparison. In three starts since returning from an oblique strain, Strider has a 2.45 ERA and an 18/10 K/BB in 14 2/3 innings. He’ll pitch in Miami next time out.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.