Atlanta Braves: How Spencer Strider Stacks up Against 2023 NL Cy Young Finalists

Atlanta Braves second-year flamethrower Spencer Strider has had a phenomenal sophomore season. He is a legit ace and has his name in the 2023 NL Cy Young race. I volunteered to do a write up on the Cy Young race in hopes of finding reasons Strider should win the award. However, instead I've convinced myself he won't win. That is okay! To be in consideration at such an early stage in his career is an accomplishment worth recognizing.

Here's a breakdown of how Strider compares to the other five finalists. Those finalists (as of this writing) are Justin Steele of the Cubs, Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks, Blake Snell of the Padres, Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, and Logan Webb of the Giants. So with sadness in my heart, I present to you some of the key factors working against Spencer Strider in the 2023 National League Cy Young Award Race.

Spencer Strider doesn't go deep enough into games to win the 2023 NL Cy Young

Strider is not some four-inning fireballer who racks up Ks and hits the pine. Strider is hanging with his fellow finalists. However, he only averages 5.79 innings per start right now. Of the six finalists, Strider is only ahead of Blake Snell's 5.55 IP/GS. Snell leads the league in walks, so that's not a huge surprise to see his name there. He's never been a guy to go deep into games.

Cy Young voters typically want to see quality and quantity. They want to lots of valuable innings over the course of the season. Strider is in the conversation but guys like Logan Webb and Zac Gallen are averaging well over six innings per start. There might be more of an argument to overlook the innings if Strider had been able to separate himself in other key categories.

We'll take a look at "other key categories" on the next page.

Strider's ERA is suffering from some inconsistent performances

Spencer Strider's ERA is the highest among the six finalists. We all remember the eight runs he allowed to the Mets in the first four-man booth game against Justin Verlander. He followed that up with a five-run outing against the Tigers in Detroit.

Strider has given up five or more earned runs in five of his 28 starts (18% of his starts) this season. For the sake of comparison, Justin Steele has had just two such starts this season. In those two starts, he allowed only five runs, no more.

Here's a breakdown of quality start percentage for the top six names in the race.

Consistently giving your team a chance to win is an important factor. Granted, Strider does have 16 wins but he also gets more run support than any pitcher on this list with an insane 6.4 runs per start. Thanks Michael Harris II!

Outside of Blake Snell's ridiculous 5.1 walks per nine, Strider has the highest BB9 at 2.9. The next closest is 1.9. That's a pretty steep drop. Strider has the worst homers per nine rate of any pitcher on the list, as well. He is the only pitcher with a HR9 over 1.0.

Spencer Strider leads the league in strikeouts and that is cool. Strikeouts don't give you bonus points if you aren't preventing runs or pitching as many innings as the other guys.

Strider's WAR might tell a different story. Click "next" to see why WAR can be misleading in the Cy Young Voting.