Spencer Strider looked like the Spencer Strider of old in his first rehab start of the 2025 season.
While pitching with the triple-A Gwinnett Stripers on Saturday, the Atlanta Braves right-hander collected six strikeouts over three innings of work, allowing just two hits and one run.
Strider threw 60 pitches — 41 of them for strikes — mixing in a fastball, slider, changeup and curveball. The 26-year-old topped out at 97.4 m.p.h. and averaged 95.9 with his four-seamer.
In total, he generated 16 whiffs from Charlotte Knights batters on 33 swings — good for an impressive 48 per cent mark.
The one-time all-star allowed both hits in the first inning, as top Chicago White Sox prospects Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth combined to push a run across against Strider. But the Atlanta ace responded by punching out four of the final nine hitters he faced.
Strider is working back to the majors after receiving an internal brace to repair the damaged UCL in his pitching elbow early last season.
He pitched in two spring training games for the Braves and struck out 10 over those two outings.
A breakout star in 2022, Strider finished fourth in Cy Young voting in 2023 after leading the National League with 20 wins and 281 strikeouts over 186.2 innings.
Over his two appearances in 2024, the six-foot-tall Strider allowed seven earned runs in 9.0 innings while striking out 12.
According to MLB.com's Mark Bowman, Strider is likely to make two more rehab outings before a return to the Braves rotation is considered.
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