Strider set for Opening Day after dominant spring

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Matt Olson was setting a franchise record with an MLB-best 54 homers he hit last year, there was reason to point out the eight homers he had hit in 47 Grapefruit League at-bats foreshadowed this success.

Spring Training numbers can be deceiving. But every once in a while you have to take notice of a spring that is as impressive as the one Olson produced last year, or the one Spencer Strider constructed this year.

Strider concluded his dominant Grapefruit League season with four solid innings in a 5-2 loss to the Rays on Saturday afternoon at CoolToday Park. The Braves right-hander tallied 35 strikeouts while allowing just two runs over 22 2/3 innings in six spring starts.

“He has set that bar pretty high, and this spring has been no different,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Just the way he goes about it and everything, I can’t say enough about him.”

Strider was scheduled to complete three innings on Saturday, but opted to pitch an additional inning because of a low pitch count. Three consecutive two-out hits in the fourth ended his bid to finish Spring Training without surrendering a single run.

“Outcomes, good or bad, I don’t think for anybody should be overvalued,” Strider said. “It’s got to be about the process, preparation and routines. I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot.”

Strider will now prepare to make his first career Opening Day start on Thursday in Philadelphia. The 25-year-old right-hander is the youngest member of a rotation that also includes Max Fried, Chris Sale, Charlie Morton and Reynaldo López. Fried, Sale and Morton have all finished among the top three in Cy Young Award balloting at some point in their careers.

“It’s an honor for sure,” Strider said. “We have a lot of guys who could have deserved to be the Opening Day starter. That’s what’s cool to me. It’s just where we are as a team.”

With this possibly being his last season with the team, it would have been understandable had the Braves given Fried a fourth straight Opening Day start. But as he was limited to just 14 starts last year, Strider carried the load and further established himself as the game’s most electric pitcher.

Strider notched his first 20-win season and set a modern era franchise record with an MLB-best 281 strikeouts last year. Fried could have gotten the nod from a sentimental standpoint. But if it came down to providing this honor to the starter who was better the previous year, this decision was a no-brainer.

“We had two or three guys we could have gone with and I don’t think any of them would have been the wrong choice,” Snitker said. “But [Strider’s] body of work last year, to me, warranted Opening Day.”

Here are some incredible strikeout numbers produced by Strider:

• Strider produced an MLB-best 483 strikeouts over the past two seasons. Gerrit Cole ranks second, with the 479 strikeouts he has tallied coming in 91 1/3 more innings than Strider.
• Strider’s 435 strikeouts as a starter are the most ever recorded by an MLB pitcher through their first 50 starts
• Despite spending the first two months of 2022 working out of the bullpen, he leads MLB with 17 double-digit strikeout games over the past two seasons.
• Strider’s 17 double-digit strikeout games are the second-highest total through a pitcher’s first 50 starts, trailing only the 20 Dwight Gooden notched during his first two seasons with the Mets.

Strider has established this dominance by using primarily just his fastball and slider. So, there is certainly enhanced excitement as he prepares to enter this season with the curveball he put back into his arsenal this winter.

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Strider isn’t throwing a true 12-to-6 curve. But the slight vertical break of this 81-83 mph pitch creates additional deception for hitters who also need to be ready for his upper 90s heater up in the zone or an 84-86 mph slider that moves more horizontally than the curve.

Adding the pitch made a lot of sense this past winter. Finding consistent success with it this spring gives the Braves even more reason to be excited about what Strider is capable of doing every time he steps on the mound.

“I've got to remember that every pitch I throw has a purpose, and because I’m throwing something that is softer or has more movement doesn’t mean I’m not always on the attack,” Strider said. “Every pitch still has the same focus and the same meaning.”