When Spencer Strider burst onto the scene with the Atlanta Braves, it wasn't an accident. While Strider wasn't a well-known commodity amongst fans when the Braves drafted him back in 2020, he had been in the lab reworking his mechanics while recovering from his first elbow surgery to unlock more movement and more velocity. This isn't a guy who ever really operated purely on arm talent. Strider puts in the work and generally leaves no stone unturned.
That has not changed as a pro. After a rogue bone chip forced Strider to get yet another procedure on his elbow, Strider returned without the same power stuff and movement that everyone, including himself, was accustomed to seeing out of him. Strider, ever his worst critic, acknowledged the problem and seemed to have a handle on what changes he needed to make to fix it without compromising his surgically-repaired arm.
Now, under the guidance of new Braves pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who the Braves stole from the Mets despite him being one of the more highly regarded coaches in baseball, it sounds like Strider is finally getting the results he has been looking for, according to a report from MLB's Mark Bowman. If these results hold, that could mean we are in for a very fun season out of him.
Spencer Strider's recovery seems to be going particularly well under new Braves pitching coach Jeremy Hefner
At the end of the season, Strider clearly knew what he needed from his pitches, and it wasn't necessarily velocity. Having high-90's heat can hide a lot of crimes, but the diminished induced vertical break on his fastball meant that the late movement that took hitters' souls previously wasn't there as much anymore. MLB hitters are really good, and if your fastball straightens out, they are going to make contact with it no matter how hard you throw.
That realization led Strider to adopt a new curveball that certainly helped with giving hitters a different look, but it didn't resolve the reduced break with his fastball. However, under Hefner, it sounds like Strider went back to the drawing board to try to address the root cause of his issues while acknowledging that he is going to have to be a different pitcher now even though the concerns with his fastball velocity have been heavily exaggerated at this point. Strider is also seeing the movement on his heater that he has sorely missed and looks like an even more complete pitcher than he was right now.
According to Hefner, Strider's willingness to make such changes has made all the difference. When asked specifically about Strider's arm angle being a culprit of his issues, Hefner said, "The arm angle is a product of everything that happens before, right? So, I tend to think more about making sure the beginning of the delivery is all good. Then, we see where the arm angle is. If you just try to fix the arm angle, you may not be fixing the root cause. So we're trying to go after the root cause and see if we can get a better version.”
For Strider, this is the perfect coaching philosophy. This isn't a guy who can only make reactive adjustments that may or may not take. He breaks everything he does down to the basics, and having a coach like Hefner that thinks the same way and provides real expertise to aid the process is not a small deal. We'll have to see how he looks in games that count and if Strider can hold up for a full season, but it does seem like Hefner is helping him stay on the right track towards becoming a high quality starter again.