{"id":36077,"date":"2025-02-23T02:09:17","date_gmt":"2025-02-23T02:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=36077"},"modified":"2025-02-23T02:09:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-23T02:09:17","slug":"braves-spencer-strider-takes-next-step-toward-return-feels-energized-by-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=36077","title":{"rendered":"Braves\u2019 Spencer Strider takes next step toward return, feels energized by it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2025\/02\/21155637\/GettyImages-2123635071-scaled.jpg?width=1200&amp;height=630&amp;fit=cover\" alt=\"Braves' Spencer Strider takes next step toward return, feels energized by it - The Athletic\" \/><\/p>\n<p>NORTH PORT, Fla. \u2014 Atlanta Braves great Dale Murphy was seated behind a screen with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and manager Brian Snitker when Spencer Strider threw what amounted to a glorified side session Friday at CoolToday Park. Right-handed and left-handed hitters alternated in the batter\u2019s box but didn\u2019t swing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooks like he\u2019s in midseason form to me,\u201d said Murphy, a guest instructor this week at spring training, who was impressed after watching Strider loudly pop the catcher\u2019s mitt with fastballs and drop sharply breaking curveballs in the strike zone during the early afternoon session on a crisp, breezy day.<\/p>\n<p>It was the next increment in Strider\u2019s progression from May elbow surgery, a step between the bullpen sessions he\u2019s been throwing since winter and live batting practice, which he could begin within a couple of weeks. The Braves aren\u2019t divulging any specific timetable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously I haven\u2019t been on a mound in pants and cleats and a jersey in a while,\u201d said Strider, describing how being in uniform for Friday\u2019s session got his juices going more than throwing off a bullpen mound. \u201cNot to be cliche or cheesy or anything, but of course, you do miss the game and you miss doing what you do. And definitely, standing out there you get touched back with like, man, I just love being out here. So that\u2019s always exciting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I\u2019ve obviously been through this process before and I know what that feeling\u2019s like, so I feel like I have a better appreciation for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Spencer Strider threw a side session with hitters standing in the box but not swinging. Next step in his return will be live batting practice, no date set. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Braves?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Braves<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/I5TyNkVv75\">pic.twitter.com\/I5TyNkVv75<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; David O&#39;Brien (@DOBrienATL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DOBrienATL\/status\/1892981314174763463?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Strider had Tommy John elbow surgery in 2019 while at Clemson. For the latest UCL repair in his pitching elbow, he had a less-invasive and relatively new procedure known as internal brace surgery. It has a rehabilitation timeline that\u2019s generally three to four months shorter than the 12-16 months of rehab that most pitchers are using these days for Tommy John.<\/p>\n<p>He had internal-brace surgery 10 months ago, and Strider said his arm feels great. \u201cSooner rather than later\u201d is all the Braves are saying about his ETA to join the major-league rotation. However, late April seems a reasonable target, especially given how well he\u2019s throwing and the lack of any setbacks.<\/p>\n<p>Kranitz had the idea of adding the step that Strider made Friday, rather than having him keep throwing regular bullpen sessions until he was ready for live batting practice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a great idea,\u201d Snitker said, moments after he and Kranitz talked with Strider when he came off the field. \u201cJust listening to (Strider), he said being out here on this diamond was good for him. I\u2019ve been very encouraged by everything that he\u2019s been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Braves have not had to rein in Strider, to have him ease back on his workload or effort in side sessions, Snitker said. He\u2019s a cerebral athlete who\u2019s done all the research and knows exactly what is recommended, and after two elbow surgeries in under five years, the major-league wins and strikeouts leader in 2023 doesn\u2019t want to do anything to risk the steady recovery progress he\u2019s made.<\/p>\n<p>Not when he can see the figurative light at the end of his rehab tunnel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talked earlier in the week about just trying to make incremental steps, and coming out here and just changing the environment is another way to do that,\u201d he said of Friday\u2019s session, which was viewed by more than a dozen teammates who\u2019d just finished batting practice, and perhaps a couple of hundred fans at CoolToday Park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd it\u2019s a good way to try to bridge the gap between where I\u2019m at now and where I ultimately want to be in games,\u201d said Strider, who\u2019s expected to pitch in at least one Grapefruit League game before the Braves break camp in Florida in just over a month. \u201cSo, try to keep taking steps and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Live batting practice is the next step, but Strider said he didn\u2019t know how soon that would be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat (live BP) doesn\u2019t necessarily have to look mid-season form, nor do I expect it to,\u201d he said. \u201cBut once they\u2019re swinging, I\u2019m trying to get guys out. So it\u2019s another element and environmental change that can help bring out some competitive adrenaline and get things moving well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we\u2019ve done such a good job of building a base, making sure mechanics are in a good spot. My stuff and command have come along better than I could have expected. So I feel good about introducing new elements of competitiveness that will bring out the velo and adrenaline and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There were no radar-gun readings Friday; it would only have been counterproductive at this point in rehab.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve really gotten close to 100 percent effort,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know that I could outside of a competitive environment, I don\u2019t know that it would be possible necessarily. I think we\u2019re close (to the next step). I feel really good about it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat today went about as well as I could have asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because the curveball was a pitch Strider added to his repertoire after the 2023 season, there has been plenty of speculation and unsolicited advice (from outside the organization) that he should abandon the pitch. The reasoning is that since he tore up his UCL after adding the pitch, it must have been a cause for the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Strider, 26, said that doesn\u2019t make sense and that he never thought of abandoning the pitch. His latest UCL injury was the result of a bone fragment becoming wedged in the ligament, a fragment that he was told resulted from calcification at some point following his 2019 Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n<p>Not from throwing a curveball.<\/p>\n<p>So, there will be plenty of curveballs to go with his vaunted fastball-slider combo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know some people have speculated, but those people, kindly, don\u2019t have all the information,\u201d Strider said. \u201cSo I appreciate their interest, but \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that the effectiveness of the curveball specifically, and his dominant performance generally, at 2024 spring training was all the more surprising in retrospect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m constantly fascinated by how I was able to pitch as well as I did in spring training, with how I was moving, likely as a result of the condition my arm was in,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause there were all kinds of things out of whack mechanically. So to adapt to throwing a new pitch as well as it did, it still blows my mind. It\u2019s a million times easier now that I\u2019ve got things moving the way I want. And consequently, manipulating the ball is a lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he had added or subtracted anything from his repertoire, Strider said dryly, \u201cThere\u2019s a knuckleball that\u2019s going to come out. One game, I\u2019m only going to throw knuckleballs. I won\u2019t tell you when.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then he laughed.<\/p>\n<p>His pitch mix is among the most dominant in baseball in recent years, even before he added the curveball.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone asked what I would do facing him, and I said I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Murphy, the National League MVP in back-to-back seasons in 1982 and 1983, 15 years before Strider was born. \u201cI was telling (coach and former Braves catcher) Eddie Perez, when we played we were told to hit that high fastball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The high fastball was usually a mistake when thrown in the mid-80 to low-90 mph range by pitchers in Murphy\u2019s era. But it\u2019s a pitch that\u2019s a key part of the arsenal for many of today\u2019s hardest throwers, none more than Strider.<\/p>\n<p>He routinely makes hitters look bad trying to catch up to his upper-90s heaters at the top of the zone or above it, which have the appearance of rising because Strider, listed at 6 feet, is shorter than most pitchers and because he also has a significantly longer stride than most. The result is a release point much lower than other power pitchers, and a fastball that stays on plane and causes fits for so many of today\u2019s \u201claunch angle\u201d uppercut swings.<\/p>\n<p>When healthy, Strider has been a sensational pitcher, and the Braves are eager to add him to a rotation that returns the trio of Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale, Reynaldo L\u00f3pez (1.99 ERA in his move back from relieving to starting last season) and Spencer Schwellenbach, who was outstanding as a rookie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel really good,\u201d Strider said. \u201cI took a long time to start throwing \u2014 longer than some protocols for a brace repair suggest. And that was mostly out of necessity because of the calendar. You know, if I had been doing this (stage of his rehab) in December, that wouldn\u2019t have really mattered. So, I think that\u2019s definitely helped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I\u2019m in better shape and I\u2019m smarter because of the people I\u2019m around and the level I\u2019m at, and I\u2019ve got great people advising me. So, yeah, I\u2019ve been unfortunate that I\u2019m bouncing back pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Strider vowed to keep his curveball amid fan speculation that it caused his injury: &#8220;Those people, kindly, don&#8217;t have all the information.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36078,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-36077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-atlanta-braves"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Braves\u2019 Spencer Strider takes next step toward return, feels energized by it - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=36077\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Braves\u2019 Spencer Strider takes next step toward return, feels energized by it - 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