MLB’s Speedway Classic was a wash on Saturday, as the game in Bristol, Tennessee was suspended after one inning. The contest will pick up in the first on Sunday afternoon, but the Braves will not be sticking with ace Spencer Strider, a Tennessee native who was prominently featured in the marketing for such a contest. Strider did not pitch a single inning. Atlanta doesn’t want to take any chances with the former NL Cy Young winner coming off Tommy John surgery.
Strider was set to go toe-to-toe with Chase Burns of the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, but the rain eliminated any chance of that happening. This isn’t an anomaly for Strider or starting pitchers as a whole. Typically, when there is a long rain delay, the bullpen takes over. However, what does make Strider’s case different is his inherent injury risk – having undergone multiple elbow surgeries – and the fact that he hadn’t thrown a single pitch in the game itself.
To make matters worse, the Braves are starting Strider on Monday or Tuesday, per Mark Bowman.
Is Spencer Strider injured? Why Braves ace isn’t starting the Speedway Classic
Strider is not injured, but the Braves are playing things extraordinarily safe with their ace. It’s been a bad enough season already for Atlanta with injury luck, as the likes of Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach and AJ Smith-Shawver have all gone down for extended periods of time. The last thing they need is to push Strider, a pitcher with a history of long-term injury issues, and be without one of the best pitchers in baseball to start 2026.
That being said, it should be noted that Atlanta is being cautious at the worst possible time for baseball’s sake. The Speedway Classic has already been an abject disaster, will be played a day after its scheduled first pitch. Now, the ace everyone wants to see will not be throwing that first pitch.
Braves are prepared for a bullpen game
Of all teams, the Braves are prepared for a bullpen game, having acquired several arms at the MLB trade deadline. Tyler Kinley of the Colorado Rockies is the most prominent of those, and he could see some action on Sunday in Bristol. Atlanta also did not deal Raisel Iglesias despite the former closer being on the final year of his deal.
Alex Anthopoulos promised ripples, at best, at the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline, but as other pretenders finally gave in and dealt some of their major-league pieces to retool for 2026, the Braves failed to do so. AA held on to the vast majority of his current roster, and didn’t deal Iglesias or Marcell Ozuna despite the likelihood that both leave in free agency in a matter of months.
Anthopoulos is one of the best front office executives in baseball. Braves fans are upset they didn’t receive prospect capital for their spare parts, and instead added to their ‘pen at the deadline. Perhaps he’ll be proven right on Sunday for doing so.
