NORTH PORT, Fla. — On Tuesday in the main stadium at CoolToday Park, with fans watching, Spencer Strider completed his latest bullpen session. One pitch after another, he worked his way through another small step in his lengthy rehab process.
Eventually, Strider will graduate to throwing live batting practice.
For now, he was throwing pitches to a catcher. He was in the Braves’ spring training stadium, and fans who were there early — before the Braves’ spring game against Boston — were watching him, but he’s not pitching in games yet.
Still, for Strider, every step is an opportunity for improvement.
Eventually, he’ll be “back” — though he doesn’t really believe in using that term.
“Very aware of the concept of delayed gratification,” Strider told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during a recent interview. “I think people who have not experienced anything in the field of baseball or performance or sport think that — even the language in the industry often results in, “Well, he’s done with rehab, he’s back.” Well, that doesn’t make any sense. I don’t expect perfection from myself. I expect my best effort, my best available work ethic, that kind of stuff. I’m not thinking about being perfect my very first game back in the big leagues. Obviously I want to do well, I want to help the team. I’m thinking about accumulating experience and skill and growth toward not just when I am pitching in big league games, but hopefully in the postseason next year, the year after, over the course of my career. This is just another data point on the graph of, hopefully, what is incremental improvement over the course of my career.”
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