After Spencer Strider’s third start of the season back on May 27th against the Philadelphia Phillies where he only gave up one run on one hit with four walks and seven strikeouts in 4 ⅔ innings it looked like he was starting to get back to his dominant form, but after last night’s performance where the Braves’ hard throwing right hander gave up five runs, with four of the five, being from home runs it’s clear Strider isn’t 100% right now, and The Morning Shift talked about it earlier today.
Mike Johnson points to Strider not being able to “keep guys off balance” and not “locating pitchers” as his main issues. Mike also says he’s not seeing any “signs of the life” that he’s looking for from Spencer either.
After not having a regular offseason because of him having to rehab from his brace surgery, then having to go on the injured list and rehab his hamstring right after his first start coming back from the elbow injury it shouldn’t be a surprise that Strider is struggling right now.
Spencer is clearly not at 100% and he hasn’t had a chance to get into a rhythm yet, but the unfortunate part is the Braves need him to be good now because of their poor start, and if Strider can’t turn things around sooner rather than later this might become a wasted season for the Braves.