Spencer Strider delivered another solid performance in his rehab assignment, recording seven strikeouts over five-plus innings for Triple-A Gwinnett in a 10-5 loss to Jacksonville on Sunday at Gwinnett Field. The Atlanta Braves pitcher threw 82 pitches before exiting after walking Christopher Morel to open the sixth. Strider has now completed three rehab outings since injuring his left oblique late in spring training.
Strider allowed just one run during his time on the mound. Jacksonville's Matthew Etzel doubled, stole third and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. In his previous start against the same lineup on Tuesday, Strider held them to one hit over 4 1/3 scoreless innings while fanning eight batters. Braves manager Walt Weiss commented ahead of the outing, “You’re talking about 80 pitches. You’re starting to get in the neighborhood now. A lot of it depends on how he responds to that workload.” Strider's four-seam fastball reached 96.9 mph and averaged 95.2 mph on Sunday, down slightly from Tuesday's 98.1 mph max and 95.9 mph average as he builds back to a full workload. His induced vertical break averaged 17 inches, approaching his peaks from 2022 and 2023 when he led MLB with 483 strikeouts over those seasons. If activated later this week, Strider could make his season debut in Atlanta's weekend series against the Rockies at Coors Field.
