The Atlanta Braves‘ starting rotation has been battered and bruised this season, but it remains a top-five starting staff in Major League Baseball (fifth in ERA, 3.61).
The trend of injuries in the starting rotation continued on Friday, when Spencer Strider was pulled from his start after three innings with right elbow inflammation. On Monday, the Braves received an update on Strider’s injury, with his MRI showing no ligament damage.
Strider met with Dr. Meister, who performed his Tommy John surgery in 2024, on Monday. Strider will miss the next four weeks before undergoing another MRI to see where he is at. A possible return time for the 27-year-old is September if ramp-up time is taken into consideration.
This is Strider’s second stint on the injured list this season, as he started the season on the IL with a left oblique strain. The former All-Star (2023) was not great returning to the Braves’ starting staff, posting a 4-2 record with a 5.31 ERA, while giving up nine home runs in 39.0 innings.
Braves manager Walt Weiss was prompted to remove Spencer Strider after his velocity dropped
Suffering from numerous injuries all over his body, the last few seasons have seemed to have caught up with Strider, whose velocity was way down. Strider’s drop in velocity prompted manager Walt Weiss to hop out of the dugout and pull his right-hander.
“He talked about how his shoulder and elbow weren’t feeling very good,” Weiss said to Matthew Ritchie of MLB.com. “And he wasn’t even aware of the drop in velocity. [When we got out there], he said, ‘What is it?’ Yeah, at that point, there’s no point to go on.”
Braves rookie JR Ritchie, who came in relief of Strider and pitched five superb innings, said losing his teammate is “terrible.”
“It’s terrible because Spencer’s a really great guy, a great teammate,” Ritchie said to Ritchie. “He’s been a great mentor to me. I hate to see him go down. It’s just really unfortunate, he’s a really big part of this team and this organization.”
Due to Strider missing time, Ritchie will be leaned on to take down the innings he leaves behind. Ritchie has made five starts this season (six games total) for the Braves and made his last start on June 5 while in Gwinnett.
Spencer Strider’s injury could also prompt the Braves to acquire another starting pitcher
The Braves have one elite starter in former Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale leading the staff, but have seen right-hander Bryce Elder emerge as a front-line arm.
Left-hander Martin Perez has emerged as another solid option. Perez has the third-best ERA in the rotation (2.90) and is tied with Sale for WHIP 1.05. Didier Fuentes is also an option, but the rookie has primarily been used out of the bullpen this season.
Strider’s injury, though it’s the best-case scenario, could prompt the Braves to go out and acquire an arm before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
