NORTH PORT, Fla. — Originally, Spencer Strider planned to pitch three innings Saturday, with the ability for him and the Braves to play it by ear as the outing progressed.
His spring ERA after a third scoreless inning Saturday: 0.00.
He went back out for another frame because he breezed through the first three. In that fourth, he allowed two runs with two outs.
“I must’ve jinxed myself by going back out there,” Strider joked.
He was one out from a scoreless spring.
Still, he had a terrific camp: He posted a 0.79 ERA over 22-2/3 innings, with 35 strikeouts. He looks more than ready for his opening-day start in Philadelphia on Thursday.
“He’s set that bar pretty high for himself, and this spring has been no different,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said before Saturday’s game.
On Saturday, Strider allowed those two runs – the only ones he surrendered all spring – over four innings. He struck out six batters, walked one and gave up four hits.
No one, Strider said, should overvalue outcomes – good or bad. The process and routine are more important to him.
In the months before spring training, Strider trained hard. He pushed his limits because he wanted to be in the best shape possible heading into camp. Yes, the “best shape of my life” stuff often is a baseball cliché, but Strider clearly was not lying. He dominated this spring. He wanted to enter camp in midseason form.
It all goes back to his goal of winning the World Series.
“You can’t just get to October, flip a switch and all of the sudden compete in that environment, the same way you can’t flip a switch on opening day and all of the sudden you’re ready to play in that environment,” Strider said. “The floor of your work and your preparation, your focus, has to be high enough that you can make those adjustments without feeling like it’s a whole new environment, it’s a whole new thing. Part of it was that for me, I think just trying to make these jumps that we’re going to make throughout the year a little easier.”
Over the winter, Strider also reintroduced a curveball into his arsenal. His performance in camp tells us that he’s beginning to master it. He now has four pitches. But unlike the change-up, which Strider is still trying to figure out how to use, the curveball might already be a weapon.
And this spring, Strider made all six of his starts in games – not on the back fields. This was intentional. In the offseason, he lobbied hard with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and made it clear that he would do whatever necessary to pitch in big-league spring games.
“Some guys are the opposite – they like going on the back field and feeling like they can work on stuff without that aspect of run prevention and what not,” Strider said. “But for me, I want to be in those situations. I think that I can mask a lot of stuff when I’m on a back field or in a bullpen. To be successful in the regular season, obviously, and in the postseason, you’re gonna be in those situations. As close as I can get to real game-like situations is where the good work is gonna come from.”
It appears Strider is headed to opening day in peak form. The Phillies will be his first test.
When he debuted in 2022, Strider turned heads. He has only improved since then.
“I felt like he was pretty far along when he came up, as far as maturity and obviously stuff-wise,” said Adam Duvall, who was with the Braves in 2022 and is back this season. “He’s shown strides. Obviously, he not only sees himself as a frontline starter, but now – not necessarily the target on his back as a frontline starter, but people know that, OK, they gotta give their best. He’s been able to, obviously, do very well. It’s fun to see.”
Duvall plays in first game of the spring
Since arriving in North Port on March 15, Duvall has worked to get as many at-bats as possible. He estimated he’s had 16 at-bats in minor-league games over the past week.
On Saturday, he played in the big-league spring game. He started in left field and batted eighth. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.
“It felt good to hear my name being announced and get the heart rate up a little bit, so that was good,” Duvall said after his afternoon ended.
Duvall still has some time. The Braves have three spring games remaining. Plus, Duvall might not start until March 30, when the Phillies are expected to start left-handed Ranger Suarez. He’ll keep building up in the meantime.
Duvall said he’s “on the way there” to feeling good at the plate. He said that he felt he was more on the attack Saturday, which was a positive.
Those minor-league games don’t have major-league pitching. But Duvall improves by evaluating each pitch.
“I think the biggest thing is trying to swing at the pitches that I wanna swing at,” Duvall said. “And that’s not necessarily just a strike, but something where I’m looking for and looking at that as a win or a loss – not necessarily the result. Because at the end of the day, the most important thing is, really, what you’re swinging at. You might get four pitches per at-bat, and so each one, you kind of go through your mind: ‘OK, did I win that one? Or did I swing at something I didn’t want to, or take one that I should’ve swung at?’ Try to play that game.”
Fried’s final tune-up
Max Fried will make his final spring start Sunday in Fort Myers versus the Red Sox. He’s lined up to start the second game of the season, presumably versus Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola.
