TORONTO — This isn’t a revelation, but the Braves have quite the special arm in Spencer Strider.
His latest display: A 12-strikeout performance Friday against the Blue Jays in Toronto. He allowed two runs on five hits, which earned him a loss as the Braves’ offense was silenced by opposing starter Chris Bassitt. But it was nonetheless another marquee individual effort.
“He pitched great,” catcher Sean Murphy said. “It’s hard to get him a win when you don’t score. He did his job.”
Strider, who threw a career-high 110 pitches, induced 32 whiffs on 63 swings. Each strikeout came on a swing. He mostly stifled a lineup that ranked 10th in runs scored and seventh in on-base percentage entering Friday.
And yet, Strider took blame after the game: “The only trouble we got in was when I started thinking and stopped executing a couple times. I didn’t really keep us in the game, in my opinion, just stupid missed execution, and that’s on me.”
The 24-year-old Strider entered the evening tied with Toronto’s Kevin Gausman for the MLB lead in strikeouts. Strider’s 79 strikeouts now lead the majors (and he’s pitched 1-1/3 fewer innings than Gausman). Strider has struck out nearly 43% of the batters he’s opposed in 2023. His 15.2 strikeouts per nine innings lead the majors.
Piling up strikeouts is nice, but it’s also leading to winning results. He’s allowed three or fewer runs in seven of eight starts this season. The Braves were 7-0 in his outings before Friday. Strider could be assembling a Cy Young-caliber campaign. And even if he doesn’t wind up among the top of that group this season, it seems that bad health is all that could stop him from multiple top-five finishes in voting for the prestigious pitcher’s award.
For those curious: The Braves’ franchise record for strikeouts in a season is 417, achieved by Charlie Buffinton in 1884. The leader for the modern era is John Smoltz, who struck out 276 in 1996.
Strider reached 202 strikeouts in his first full season (131-2/3 innings). There have been several pitchers in recent years who’ve logged 300-strikeout seasons, and it’s an impressive list: Clayton Kershaw (2015), Chris Sale (2017), Max Scherzer (2018), Gerrit Cole (2019) and Justin Verlander (2019). Strider certainly has the ability to join them (and he’s currently on pace to do so).
Minor-league signing
The Braves signed left-hander Justus Sheffield earlier this week. Sheffield, who turned 27 on Saturday, is a former top prospect who hasn’t earned a role in the majors. He has a 5.47 ERA across 48 appearances in the past five seasons.
Sheffield represents further organizational depth, though. The Braves have continued accumulating players with major-league experience to store in the minors in the case they’re needed. The team also recently signed veteran utilityman Chad Pinder to a minor-league deal.
“As we’ve seen, (the front office) has done a really good job there of keeping guys who have big-league time and guys you can call up with some experience,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Because you end up using a lot of those guys. At least they’re there if you need them.”
