ATLANTA -- Spencer Strider said he felt ready to return to MLB pitching ahead of the Braves’ 5-2 win against the Nationals on Thursday afternoon at Truist Park.
“I feel like I could have been effective yesterday,” Strider said. “I anticipate that I’ll pitch in five, six, seven days somewhere. The details aren’t up to me. I feel good about where I’m at. I need to pitch. I’d pitch every day if I could. I have thrown in one big league game in over a year now, so definitely a lot of things to work on. ... I need the reps, I need the practice and I need to move at full speed -- get guys out and work on my stuff. I’d like to be able to get in some games and get that moving.”
Sure enough, manager Brian Snitker said after the game that Strider would start one of the games in Atlanta’s series at Washington that begins Tuesday, though the club hasn’t yet determined which. The Braves optioned starter Bryce Elder to Triple-A Gwinnett after Thursday’s game, presumably for interim bullpen help and to make room for Strider.
Strider understands the caution Atlanta’s management has exercised with his return from his right hamstring injury, particularly when he missed all but his first two starts last season because of a right elbow injury.
“Having this adductor hamstring thing just shows you that there’s no ‘return and you’re safe,’” said Strider, who landed on the injured list with the hamstring strain after his season debut April 16 at Toronto. “You’re always susceptible to injury and failure and sucking -- there’s no moment where you return to your safe haven of success and everything’s great. It’s just not how life works.”
But Strider maintained optimism about his progression. During his sim game Wednesday, he and pitching coach Rick Kranitz were happy with his fastball movement, with velocity consistently in the mid-90s.
“It’s a sim game, so I’m not going to go out there and throw as hard as I can,” Strider said. “I’m sure if I did, the pitching gurus on the internet would criticize me -- I’m kind of damned if I do, damned if I don’t with this velocity now. I haven’t pitched in a while either. I certainly can throw harder than that and kind of made a conscious effort not to focus on it. The goal for me was more [focusing on] strikes and offspeed. Those are the things that without a hitter in the box, you can’t really get a feel for. … I’m not worried about velocity at this moment.”
Strider emphasized the sim game was mainly about conditioning while ensuring he could throw any pitch without having to worry about a real game scenario. He said he threw many curves and changeups, maintaining command through 65 pitches. Strider hammered home his readiness to pitch.
“I don’t think it’d be skipping Gwinnett -- I mean, I threw five innings yesterday, so I’m fully capable of pitching in the big leagues,” he said. “Fortunately for us, we’ve got five guys right now that are doing a phenomenal job in their role. And I have not pitched a lot in a year, so there’s also an aspect -- that I’m fully aware of -- of what’s best for the team right now and trying to keep that long-term vision in mind.”
To that end, despite having five starters performing well before Elder was optioned, and with another about to return in Strider, Snitker said a six-man rotation was not viable.
“The starts we’ve been getting have been really good since [Spencer] Schwellenbach a couple [of] times ago,” Snitker said. “We got three more days now in this 17-game run [without an off-day], and you need good starts so you’re not doing the roster gymnastics and all that kind of stuff. Starters have been a key to this little stretch we’re in.”