Spencer Strider removed from Friday’s start after 68 pitches, decrease in velocity

Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider was removed from Friday’s game at Citi Field after a lead-off walk in the fourth inning. Strider had allowed six earned runs on six hits over the game’s first three innings and there was a dramatic decrease in the right-hander’s fastball velocity.

Strider was lifted after his 68th pitch of the game, an 82 mph slider in the first. He began the fourth inning facing Mets designated hitter MJ Melendez and throwing three straight fastballs, which clocked at 89, 90 and 88 mph respectively.

The Braves later announced Strider left the game with, “right arm soreness.”

Having missed the first month of the season with an oblique injury, Strider was making his eighth start of the season. He allowed back-to-back homers in the first inning, but his fastball reached 97 mph during that frame.

Strider also gave up a grand slam in the game’s second inning before pitching a scoreless third. But the fastball had dipped to 90 mph in the third before Strider returned to face the one batter in the fourth.

The 27-year-old Strider made two starts in the 2024 season before undergoing surgery for a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.