PHILADELPHIA – The Braves faced a crucial decision for Game 3 of the National League Division Series: Spencer Strider (who is coming off a strained oblique) or Charlie Morton?
“We went into last night talking about that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said Friday in Philadelphia. “Because like I told you the other day, I said we put this kid on the roster to pitch him.”
The Braves chose Strider for Game 3, which lines up Morton for Saturday’s Game 4 as the Braves try to save their season. Different things factored into the team’s thinking about whether to start Strider or Morton on Friday.
In the end, it seems the Braves’ well-rested bullpen became a determining factor. “He’s not going to go seven innings today,” Snitker said of Strider. That much is obvious because the right-hander, who dealt with a strained oblique, is pitching for the first time since Sept. 18. Thus, the Braves knew they would need their bullpen.
Well, the relievers received a five-day break because the club avoided the Wild Card Series. Kye Wright pitched six innings in Game 2, which allowed the Braves to avoid exhausting their bullpen arms beyond their comfort level. Then they had an off-day Thursday as the series moved to Philadelphia.
“We know we’re going to use the bullpen,” Snitker said ahead of Game 3.
So, would Morton have started had the bullpen been taxed?
“I don’t know,” Snitker said. “Possibly. Because we weren’t faced with that, I really don’t know for sure. Because Charlie obviously was in the equation also. But I think just the way the fact that we won the (second) game, we’re going to play four, and with the off-day, a lot of the relievers that we’ll probably use in the middle there had two days off. So it lined up and just kind of said Spencer once we got to it.”
In his first career postseason start, Strider was charged with five runs over 2 1/3 innings. The Phillies hung six runs on the Braves in the bottom of the third in a 9-1 win. The Braves are facing elimination in Saturday’s Game 4.
After the game, Snitker said the Braves hoped Strider could go four innings.
Asked after the game about what he expected in this start, Strider said: “Execute and put us in a position to win, and I didn’t do that.”
In that six-run third inning, Strider served up a three-run homer to Rhys Hoskins. Strider grooved the pitch down the middle.
Worth noting: The fastball registered at 93.8 mph, the slowest of Strider’s season. His velocity dipped a bit in that third inning.
“No, I have no idea. I felt fine,” Strider said when asked if he had a reason for the velocity dip. “Didn’t want to throw a ball that slow necessarily, and then right down the middle as well. So, throw it 91 or 101, you throw it right down the middle, they usually hit it.”
From the moment the Braves announced Strider as their Game 3 starter, it seemed clear he wouldn’t pitch deep into the game. Snitker on Thursday said Strider had only thrown 1-1/2 bullpen sessions.
“I think for him it will be making sure that that comfort’s there, that there’s nothing bothering him because really if he feels halfway good and he’s able to get in the zone -- and I mean you’d like to see him be able to hit spots and make great pitches, but I think his heater affords him a little leeway,” Morton said before the game about the challenges Strider would face pitching for the first time since the oblique injury. “If that heater is there, the Phillies will have a tough time, even if the location isn’t great, knock on wood.”
In the regular season, Strider faced the Phillies four times (three were starts). He allowed only three runs over 21-1/3 innings. The Phillies collected only seven hits off him. He struck out 34 and walked seven. Strider is 4-0 against Philadelphia. And it all starts with Strider’s electric fastball.
“It’s definitely, for starting pitchers, up there near the top,” Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said of where Strider’s heater ranks among those he’s seen. “...It’s 98 to 100, but it’s playing even faster than that. It’s hard to imagine.”
Strider posted a 2.67 ERA over 31 games – 20 of them starts – in the regular season. He recorded 202 strikeouts, reaching 200 strikeouts in a season in the fewest innings (130) in MLB history.
“There’s not a lot of searching,” Morton said of Strider. “Granted, I don’t know how many career starts he’s made or how many career innings he has, but so far he’s just seemed to be in a routine. He’s in a routine in the weight room. He’s in a routine between starts, with his diet.
All of his prep is very consistent. I’ve been around some young starters -- a lot of the times it’s very volatile. There’s, like, I’m going to try this new diet. I’m going to try this new workout routine. I’m going to try this new throwing program. And Spence has been very consistent. Like I said, this is his first year in the big leagues. There’s room for him to do whatever. But all I know is that he’s pretty steadfast for a young guy.”
In Game 3, the Phillies had more success in a few innings than they had against Strider in the entire regular season. He insisted he felt fine physically.
“Nothing necessarily,” Strider said of what the Phillies did differently. “They’re a good team and when you don’t execute pitches, good teams make you pay. That third inning, I didn’t execute at all, and so they did their jobs.”
Braves to face Syndergaard on Saturday
Noah Syndergaard will start Game 4 for the Phillies, according to manager Rob Thomson.
Syndergaard is 0-3 with a .396 ERA in 10 starts against the Braves in his career.
He came on in relief and pitched one scoreless eighth inning against the Braves in Game 2. He is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in his postseason career.
Thomson didn’t want to say how long Syndergaard will pitch Saturday.
He went 10-10 this season for the Angels and Phillies, with a 3.94 ERA.
Grissom over Arcia
Snitker decided to start rookie Vaughn Grissom at second base over Orlando Arcia, who has gotten most of the playing time in recent weeks.
The reason: Arcia has struggled against Phillies Game 3 starter Aaron Nola.
Arcia entered Friday’s game 0-for-13 versus Nola, with five strikeouts and a walk.
“(Arcia has) had enough at-bats where it’s the right sample size, I guess, to try and take a shot with (Grissom),” Snitker said.
Entering Friday, Grissom was 0-for-3 with a strikeout against Nola.
Grissom went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts Friday. In the seventh inning, Arcia pinch-hit for Grissom and singled.
Acuña is good to go
There may have been some lingering concern about Ronald Acuña among some fans after he was hit in the elbow with a fastball in Wednesday’s Game 2.
He appears fine. He was in Friday’s starting lineup, and Snitker said the Braves’ athletic trainers are “all good with him” after he was hit by a pitch in Wednesday’s game.
“The biggest thing, as I said, it worked out good that he scored and we had some time, that inning kept going, and it was just about getting feeling back,” Snitker said. “By the time that inning was over, he was throwing in the cage and was good to go. So I think if that inning would have ended with him at second base, I’m not 100% sure we would have felt comfortable running him back out there.
But because we had some time, and we could test him out a little bit in the cage everybody felt good about -- and I don’t know we could have kept him out; he was bound and determined to go back.”
