After running through a few rough spots over his last few starts, Spencer Strider was able to get back on track on Saturday night as the Braves took down the New York Mets. The flame-throwing starter pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and walking four while striking out another six batters.
Strider needed the strong outing against a team that had previously troubled him (7.23 ERA in his seven career games against the Mets), especially given his recent string of bad luck on the mound.
Despite the perceived struggles, Spencer Strider should absolutely still be the frontrunner for the most prized possession for a pitcher. Jon Chuckery discussed why the ace should win the Cy Young.
"Could Spencer Strider be the Cy Young Winner right now?" Chuckery asked. "If you look at his numbers, he's leading in two of the three [pitching] ‘triple crown’ categories in baseball right now. He leads the league in wins. He leads the league in strikeouts and he's 13th in the National League in ERA. Obviously, that’s not necessarily the best number in the world but still, his ERA is 3.75, and from modern-day baseball that's still pretty good."
He will certainly his fair share of competition for the award in the National League. Opposite of Strider are guys like Blake Snell from the San Diego Padres or Justin Steele from the Chicago Cubs, but Chuckery is confident that Strider should still clear those guys.
"Now I think the two other guys that are in the mix are Justin Steele from the Chicago Cubs, who also has thirteen wins," Chuckery continued. "He's got a 2.79 ERA and he's got 120 strikeouts in 126 innings. Now, the strikeouts are definitely one of the "glamour numbers" in baseball, right? Whereas Steele's got 120 strikeouts in 126 innings. Spencer Strider’s got 217 strikeouts in 139 innings."
Between his dominant strikeout totals, the dominance of the team he plays on, and the good-enough ERA, Spencer Strider should absolutely be the leader in the clubhouse for the franchise's first Cy Young since Tom Glavine won it in 1998.
"I can tell you if Spencer Strider ends up with 300 strikeouts and he's leading the league in wins, there ain't no doubt that he's going to win the Cy Young," he finished. "I promise you, you're not going to have a 300-strikeout, potential 20-game winner in modern-day baseball, that doesn’t win the Cy Young. I don't care what his ERA is unless his ERA starts to get to be 4.50 – 5.00. If his ERA is in the 3.50 range, he's winning the Cy Young."