In Spencer Strider's first spring start, he mowed down opposing hitters seeming at will. The fastball was live, the slider was diving away from swinging bats, and he certainly did not look like a guy that was coming off major arm surgery. For Atlanta Braves fans, it was an almost perfect rehab outcome.
Unfortunately, Strider's second appearance in camp didn't go quite as well. Holding firm to a 45 pitch limit, Strider was unable to escape the second inning and ended up being charged with two earned runs on two hits and a walk while striking out four batters. In Strider's own words, "It wasn’t as easy.”
No one should be worried about a single suboptimal appearance in camp, however. While he was not crisp, the swing and miss stuff was still there and most importantly, Strider remains in a good spot health-wise. Given that Strider appears to be healthy and a little bit ahead of schedule in terms of rehab innings, we now have a much better sense on when we could see him on the mound for Atlanta in the regular season.
Spencer Strider, Filthy Curveball. 😷 pic.twitter.com/OcjNM78b8K
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 23, 2025
Braves fans may see Spencer Strider return from IL sooner than they thought
Unlike Tommy John surgeries, the internal brace procedure that Strider underwent last year has a significantly shorter recovery time...but only if there are no setbacks. The goal of the procedure is to add strength to the ligament, but that also means that a certain amount of babying that player's arm to build their workload up and preserve the good work the surgeon did.
At the start of camp, it was widely expected that Strider was mostly likely to return at the end of April and the Braves would be lucky to get him in a spring game at all. Fast forward several weeks later and Strider made a pair of spring training appearances without any injury setbacks. While a seemingly small difference, it could mean that Strider is back significantly quicker than that.
According to the reporting we have, a return in the first half of April for Strider is very much on the table. Assuming he doesn't have any soreness or flare-ups in his elbow, Strider probably only needs two or three minor league rehab starts to get stretched out enough to start again. The Braves don't have a need to rush Strider back at the moment, but it does seem like he is ahead of schedule.
What happens after that is going to be very interesting. The Braves currently have Reynaldo Lopez who hasn't looked quite right this spring, Grant Holmes who is out of minor league options, and young hurler AJ Smith-Shawver who looked very strong this spring all likely to be in their rotation to start the 2025 season. Strider is going to be taking one of those spots in short order and that is going to force Atlanta's hand sooner than they may have thought.