Sean Murphy had a great view of Spencer Strider’s impressive Minor League rehab start. The 2023 All-Stars served as batterymates while extending their rehab assignments for Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday night.
Strider heightened excitement about his approaching return while limiting Jacksonville to one hit and one walk over 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Given a chance to face one final batter in the fifth, he ended his 65-pitch outing with his eighth strikeout. This was the second start he’s made since straining his left oblique near the end of Spring Training.
The Braves haven’t said when they hope to add Strider back to their rotation. The righty will likely aim to throw 80 pitches when he makes his next rehab start, possibly on Sunday for Gwinnett.
Strider’s results and metrics created hope that he can get back to where he was before he underwent UCL brace surgery in April 2024. He had a MLB-best 37.4 percent strikeout rate as a starting pitcher while recording a Major League-high 483 strikeouts from 2022-23.
Strider’s four-seam fastball averaged 95.9 mph and it touched 98.1 mph. He not only maintained his velocity, he actually got stronger as the outing progressed. Seven of his nine highest velos were recorded after the second inning.
As Strider has worked to get back to where he was a couple years ago, he has repeatedly talked about the shape of his fastball. His heater lacked its late life last year, when the induced vertical break was 16.4 inches. The average IVB on his fastball on Tuesday was 18 inches, which is in line with the 18.4 IVB average he produced on the pitch in 2023.
But it wasn’t just the fastball that was impressive. Jacksonville whiffed with 10 of 15 swings against Strider’s slider.
As for Murphy, he grounded out to short, popped out to the catcher and struck out in his three at-bats. The veteran catcher is hitless in 12 at-bats since beginning his rehab stint with High-A Rome last week.
Murphy is completing his recovery from right hip surgery in September. There is a chance he could be activated within the next week.