As Spencer Strider chases his best self on the mound, he’s encouraged by his progress

The Braves lost to Philadelphia, 2-0, on Tuesday. Atlanta has lost five of its last six games. The Braves are 25-28. The offense is a concern. Their starting pitcher, Strider, picked up the loss despite giving up one run on one hit.

Perhaps you, the fan, can take some solace in this: In the couple hours here, Strider took his biggest step since returning from internal brace surgery. He looked more comfortable. His stuff looked better. And he seems to feel convicted in where he is and where he is headed.

This is a process, and there is a balance. Pitching is such that it cannot truly be simulated anywhere but a live game. Thus, for Strider, even a rehab assignment was not the same as pitching in a major-league game. The more he pitches, the better he should get. But make no mistake: He’s doing everything he can to be his best.

“I think you’ve gotta be honest with yourself and you’ve gotta be patient, but you’ve gotta kind of have some urgency, too, I think,” Strider said. “That can’t get out of control. I think you’ve gotta try to find things you can control that you can alter and you can optimize to give yourself an opportunity to see that progress. Changes to the routine. Analysis of your mentality. Being honest with yourself in every way.

“I’ve said before I’m not trying to ‘get back.’ I think it’s gotta be a present focus on being the best version of myself tomorrow and the next week, and going forward. It’s tough, I think, because there’s moments where things feel very close and they feel like it’s almost right at the tip of your tongue. That’s where you need to acknowledge the progress and acknowledge that that’s a positive feeling, and try to understand why it’s happening and cultivate it.”

Strider allowed one hit – a run-scoring double to Max Kepler in the second inning – over 4 2/3 frames. He struck out seven and walked four. He threw 90 pitches, 50 for strikes.

The detractors might say that Strider didn’t complete five innings. Or that he walked four batters. Or that he didn’t throw triple digits. Or that he still wasn’t his best.

But the other spin on it is this: He kept the Braves in the game. Two of the four walks came to the last two batters he faced. In just his third start since last April, he quieted a good lineup throughout his outing.

“I think my movement is really good on my pitches,” Strider said. “All the stuff is pretty consistent. It’s starting to feel really consistent coming out of my hand. The velo on the fastball is obviously not my career high, but the swings are telling me that guys aren’t picking it up and it’s got that life. Especially tonight compared to the last couple times throwing, it’s getting on guys and I’m able to beat some barrels. The misses were competitive. Sometimes, making that adjustment from one pitch to another is tough, and you gotta throw three before you execute instead of one. That’s frustrating, but it still feels like the next one – it’s on the tip of your tongue. That’s a good feeling. That’s the feeling you want to have.”

And what would the opposite be?

“I think sometimes you get out there and something comes out of your hand or something happens and it’s like, ‘Well, OK, wait a minute, what was that? Now what?’ The feeling of not knowing what’s happening or what’s coming, that’s an unnatural and more of a humbling feeling,” Strider said. “And I think it’s very difficult to compete that way. I need to have confidence in my stuff, and I do think that’s independent of velocity. I used to throw slower and I didn’t have any fears about competing in the strike zone, overpowering guys, and I think that conviction, it’s something you have to take ownership over and it’s independent of anything else.”

For Strider, the best is yet to come. Think of it this way: These are his first big-league starts in a year. He’s rounding into form with each of them.

His three major-league starts this season:

Not bad, right? Yes, there are irrational fans judging Strider off his pre-surgery self. This is unfair. He could get back to that elite form – he could be even better than that – but it takes time. This is a process. For Strider and the Braves, the positive is that the right-hander hasn’t suffered any blow-up starts.

“He’s got a ways to go, I think, to look like himself,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “But everything was up a tick, I think, from the last time. He repeated his delivery, I thought, better. It’s a good hitting ballclub, and he gave us a chance.”

Strider on Tuesday averaged 95.1 mph with his four-seam fastball. He maxed out at 96.8 mph. Yes, he threw harder before surgery. But you probably shouldn’t read too much into the velocity quite yet. Of course, everyone will monitor it. But this isn’t a video game - it takes time to build it all back.

“I can’t concern myself with velo too much right now,” Strider said. “I mean, it’s gonna come. Ultimately, whether I’m throwing hard or not, I’ve got to execute pitches and get ahead and stick to our gameplan.”

To Michael Harris II, who stood in center field, Strider’s fastball looked good.

“Yeah, I saw some more swings and misses and some different looks from batters tracking it in,” Harris said. “Probably wasn’t 99 or 100 (mph), but his ball still has some life and it can definitely get on some hitters. I think I saw that tonight.”

Strider could’ve thrown a complete game while giving up that one run and the Braves still would’ve lost. “We got shut out,” Snitker said bluntly when asked what he saw from his offense. The Braves still haven’t lost a game by more than two runs since early May. When they hit, they’ll win more often.

On Tuesday, left-hander Ranger Suarez shut out the Braves over six innings. The Braves then had only one hit against the three relievers who followed him in the final three frames.

The Braves fell to 9 1/2 games behind the first-place Phillies in the National League East standings. It’s not even June. What’s next for the Braves? Well, for now, it’s not chasing the Phillies.

It’s trying to become the best version of themselves.

“I don’t think we’re sitting here staring at the Phillies,” Strider said. “I think we’re focused on ourselves, and understanding what needs to get better – that ultimately if we want to achieve what we want to achieve, we got to be the best version of ourselves regardless of what anybody else is doing. We don’t know who we’re gonna play if we make the playoffs. That kind of stuff works itself out when you get there. I think right now, you gotta kind of just picture every jersey the same on the other side of you and focus on what’s going on in your own clubhouse and in your own routine, and optimize for the next game and the next game.”