When Spencer Strider exited Friday's game with what Atlanta Braves personnel described as elbow inflammation, fans immediately expected the worst. Official news would not come back until Strider flew to be evaluated by Dr. Keith Meister, the same man who performed Strider's internal brace surgery in 2024.
However, despite the slimmest of odds, Strider got back an encouraging report on his elbow. Braves beat writer, Mark Bowman, reported today that Strider’s MRI didn’t show any ligament damage, just inflammation. Additionally, there aren’t any current concerns about him needing surgery, and his visit with Dr. Meister will provide a timetable for when he can begin throwing once again.
Spencer Strider's 2Ks in the 1st pic.twitter.com/mxszqJ6rUz
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 10, 2026
Braves get promising update on Spencer Strider, but the team is not out of the woods yet
While getting a diagnosis of strictly elbow inflammation on Strider is the best-case scenario for Atlanta, the team still is in desperate need of starting pitching. Although Strider had just a 5.31 ERA, 5.36 FIP, and 0.0 fWAR in eight starts this season, the options behind him are not all that enticing.
After Friday night's game, manager Walt Weiss announced rookie JR Ritchie would slot into Strider's spot in the rotation after throwing five effective relief innings on the same night. Unfortunately, that does not solve the Grant Holmes (or, more recently, the Bryce Elder) problem in the rotation. There can be discussion about moving Didier Fuentes into the rotation, but nothing is set in stone at the moment.
The Braves just dropped back-to-back series for the first time all season on this recent road trip, and the injuries played a big part in that. The rotation, in particular, has looked frail and tenuous over the past week, so pinpointing any reliable contributors will be an important task for Braves management.
Thankfully, all signs point to Drake Baldwin returning when the Braves open up their next home stand on Tuesday night against the Giants, so the team will at least get some offensive firepower back. As for Strider, we will have to remain patient on what his return timeline looks like. Hopefully, once he is back, he can begin to look more like the pitcher who was so effective for Atlanta in 2023.
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