Atlanta Braves rookie starter Spencer Strider continues to do incredible things on the mound, but unfortunately, the offense let him down on Thursday.
Thursday was a great opportunity for the Atlanta Braves to earn a four-game sweep over another postseason contending team.
They had Spencer Strider on the mound who has been unbelievable lately going up against a struggling rookie for the St. Louis Cardinals in Matthew Liberatore.
Strider did his part, but the offense failed to come up with much of anything as they went 1-15 with runners in scoring position and scored just 1 run through the first nine innings before losing in extra innings.
And run support has been a prolbem over this brilliant three-game stretch that Strider has had.
Over his last three starts, he’s allowed just 1 earned run on 8 hits and 3 walks with 30 strikeouts.
And yet the Braves are just 1-2 in those starts and have scored 3, 4, and 2 runs in those games.
The offense is averaging 4.6 runs per game in Strider’s eight starts this season, but 18 of those runs came in two games.
In the six other starts, the offense is averaging just 3.5 runs per game. And if you take out the 7 runs scored in extra innings in games he’s started — they’ve gone to extra innings in three games he’s started already — then the offense is averaging just 2.3 runs per game in those six starts through the first nine innings.
Needless to say, the rookie could use some more run support. Perhaps the Braves hitters love watching him so much they want to get back in the field quickly to see the Strider show — and for that, I can’t blame them because he is a must-watch whenever he’s on the mound.
Despite all that, Strider continues to get better each time he goes out there and should be the top contender for the NL Rookie of the Year.
After Thursday’s start, he took the team lead for strikeouts and ranks fifth in strikeouts among NL pitchers — and he’s done so in far fewer innings.