The long awaited return of Spencer Strider is finally set to come to fruition tomorrow afternoon. Both Justin Toscano of the AJC and Mark Bowman of mlb.com have reported that Strider is scheduled to make his spring training debut tomorrow against the Boston Red Sox. The front office was hopeful Strider could make a start before spring training ended, but they have also made it clear they were never going to push either him or Ronald Acuna Jr. to come back from injury prematurely.
It will be the first start since Strider threw four innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks all the way back on April 5, 2024. As we all know that's the day before it was discovered Strider would have to miss the remainder of the season after UCL surgery.
Big news: Spencer Strider is scheduled to start Monday’s spring game for the Braves.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) March 16, 2025
Braves flamethrower Spencer Strider set to make his return to the mound tomorrow
Obviously this is great news for Atlanta who always knew they were likely to begin the 2025 season without their best player in Ronald Acuna Jr. and top of the rotation starter Spencer Strider. However, given that Strider should get the chance to make a couple spring starts before the regular season begins the likelihood that he returns before May shoots up considerably.
Now Strider just has to get through these starts where he's rebuilding his arm strength with a clean bill of health and he should be back on the mound before we know it. One of the biggest question marks this spring has been the backend of the Braves rotation, but should Strider return by late April that question quickly becomes less prominent.
Once he's back with the big league club, Strider should slot in nicely to perhaps one of the best rotations in baseball featuring reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, and Spencer Schwellenbach. When Strider was last healthy for a full season in 2023 he broke the franchise record for strikeouts in a season, and finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting. Strider finished that season with a 3.86 ERA, 2.85 FIP, and ranked in the 99th percentile in strikeout percentage.
Few pitchers are more electric than Strider when he's on the mound, and baseball will get a huge boost once he's back blowing 99 mph fastballs by hitters. All reports indicate he has looked really impressive during his bullpens this spring, and now fans will finally get to see just how impressive he is tomorrow afternoon against the Red Sox.
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