The Atlanta Braves delivered a thrilling walk-off win on Friday night in their 2024 home opener. However, ominous post-game injury news slightly soured the mood in Atlanta. After the come-from-behind victory, the Braves announced that ace Spencer Strider will undergo an MRI on his right elbow on Saturday.
Spencer Strider complained about elbow discomfort tonight. He will get an MRI tomorrow.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) April 6, 2024
Strider previously underwent Tommy John as a college sophomore and missed the 2019 season. Many around the league expected a huge 2024 campaign from him, and he likely entered the season as the National League Cy Young favorite. Expectations skyrocketed as Strider allowed just two runs with 35 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings during Spring Training.
But for now, Braves faithful must hold their breaths and wait for Strider’s MRI results.
Spencer Strider to Undergo MRI On His Right Elbow
Strider complained about discomfort in his elbow during Friday’s start and exited after just four mediocre innings. The flamethrower allowed five earned runs on seven hits and three walks in his abbreviated start against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even more troubling, he struck out just four batters, a low rate for him.
For his career, Strider has struck out 13.6 batters per nine and has posted a 37.2% strikeout rate. A poor strikeout performance doesn’t mean much on its own. However, Strider clearly wasn’t right on Friday. He threw 88 pitches, 47 of which were fastballs. For the first time in his career, his average fastball velocity in a start was under 96 mph. Last year, he averaged 97.2 mph on his heater.
Spencer Strider's elbow was bothering him and he will be getting an MRI tomorrow (via @mlbbowman).
He averaged 96.7 MPH with his fastball in his first start but all of his last 31 fastballs tonight were slower than that.
His last fastball was at 94.4 MPH. pic.twitter.com/6pMDoyz1TY
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 6, 2024
Furthermore, the 25-year-old experienced less spin on his pitches, specifically his fastball and slider, than he normally possesses. Strider has quickly developed into one of the best pitchers in the game because of how hard he throws and how much spin his pitches have. These traits allow him to fool hitters in multiple ways, which were not available to him on Friday night.
While Strider clearly seemed off, news of elbow discomfort is always jarring. According to David O’Brien of The Athletic, Strider initially mentioned his discomfort after finishing the fourth inning. O’Brien says that his Braves teammate did not know about his elbow issue, and the team sent Strider home before the media entered the clubhouse.
