As the Braves were trying to win their first game of the season, a key member of the team was in Gwinnett County working on his own comeback.
In his continued rehabilitation of a damaged elbow ligament, ace Spencer Strider extended himself to his longest outing yet in a Friday night start for the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers at Coolray Field.
Against the Nashville Sounds, Strider threw 5 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings with eight strikeouts against two walks. He left the game midway through the second batter of the sixth inning, having reached his 75-pitch limit.
“Good to get into the sixth inning,” Strider said. “That’s obviously a goal, is to get the up-downs and it’s easier in spring training because you have the reentry rule. So, glad we accomplished that (Friday) and definitely a good step.”
It was his fourth rehab start, two in spring training with the Braves and the past two with the Stripers. Strider underwent surgery in April 2024 to repair damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Strider took encouragement from reaching the sixth inning without giving up a run or hit despite not having the firmest command of his pitches. He gave credit to catcher Sean Murphy, who is also with Gwinnett on his own rehab assignment after cracking a rib in spring training.
“I felt like, of all my outings, this is the one I had the least amount of feel,” he said. “But I think that’s where Sean was huge. He and I talked (Thursday) just about, the goal was to get deep, of course. So regardless of what I had feel for (Friday), we needed to find a way to get outs and get outs efficiently and we did. That’s great.”
Strider relied mostly on his fastball, which reached 96 miles per hour regularly, while also throwing sliders and change-ups.
The plan has been for Strider to have one more rehab appearance next week before returning to the Braves.
“Whatever they tell me to do, that’s what I’m going to do,” Strider said.
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