While just two full seasons into his big league career, Spencer Strider is already viewed as one of baseball's very best pitchers. He broke the Atlanta Braves single season strikeout record last season, and finished top four in NL Cy Young voting.
Never one to mince his words, Strider gave a telling quote about his expectations for the Braves in 2024. To summarize, Strider thinks the Braves are the most talented team in baseball, and anything less than winning a World Series would be considered a failure. A very strong statement, but one I'm certain fires up a lot of Braves fans.
Spencer Strider: “I think that there should be no acceptance of anything less than winning a World Series in this organization. I said it a little bit ago, and I believe it, and I’m biased, but this is the most talented team in baseball.”
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) January 27, 2024
The mustached flamethrower has already captured the hearts of Braves country, thanks to his excellent on-field performance. When you sprinkle in his all about winning attitude, and long-term commitment to the organization, it's makes a ton of sense why you see countless Strider jersey's throughout the battery.
Team bias from players and fans aside, when you hear a quote like this some could view it as a little over-confident. However, for the Atlanta Braves this isn't the case. Just about all baseball pundits agree that Atlanta is an extremely talented team, and you can expect them to open the year as World Series favorites in most betting markets.
Not only is there a ton of pressure to come with the expectations on the Braves as a team, but also high expectations for Strider as an individual. According to Fangraphs Steamer projections for 2024, Strider is projected to finish first in all of the following categories: fWAR (4.9), FIP (3.09), ERA (3.18), wins (15), strikeouts (257), WHIP (1.08), K% (34.2%), and K-BB% (25.9%).
These projections showcase why the Atlanta Braves are going to have REALLY high expectations in 2024. But that doesn't mean those expectations should make this team shy away from them. And that is exactly why Strider gave fans the assurance of the team striving for another World Series championship. Which is something that should have every Braves fan very fired up!