ATLANTA — Spencer Stryder had an MRI of his sore elbow Saturday and the results showed what the Atlanta Braves had feared: damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in the throwing arm of one of baseball’s most dynamic talents.
The team was unable to determine the extent of the damage, but UCL tears typically require Tommy John surgery.
“It wasn’t good, and you hate it – you hate it for it,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the MRI results. “I feel sorry for him, he’s a kid who does everything right. He likes to take part in competitions and just about everything. So just wait and see what they do.”
The 25-year-old Strider underwent Tommy John surgery for a torn ACL once during his time at Clemson in 2019. The Braves said they would not have final news on the injury and treatment until Strider sees specialist Dr. Keith Meister would meet in Arlington, Texas.
Tommy John surgery will end Strider’s season and likely keep him out until the middle of the 2025 season based on the rehab protocols followed by the Braves and most other teams. Although the Braves have plenty of pitching depth in the minors, there will be a significant pushback in replacing Strider, arguably the most dominant pitcher in baseball.
Candidates include Bryce Elder, who made the All-Star team in 2023 in his first full MLB season before fading badly in the second inning, and left-hander Dylan Dodd, who had nine hits and two in 6 2/3 innings Runs allowed. from Friday’s Triple-A game.
“You hate to lose him like this, but we’re going to keep fighting hard,” Snitker said. “This has happened to many other people and we are not the only ones who have been bitten this year. That’s just part of it. That’s why you’re trying to gain depth in your organization you know you’re going to need it. Nobody is isolated from it, everyone has been through the same thing.
#The braveBrian Snitker on a series of injuries in baseball: “Well, they’re throwing the ball harder than ever and spinning the ball harder than ever. I don’t know. I hate it for everyone involved. The biggest thing we have in our game is throwing the ball.”
– David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) 6. April 2024
Although many pitchers return to the field effectively after a second Tommy John surgery, there is not as much assurance that they will perform at the same level as a pitcher returning from the first surgery.
“The way I see it, you pray for the best,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said minutes before hearing the news of the MRI. “We don’t know anything yet, but the way I see the guy is that he prepares as well as he prepares and is very diligent in everything he does… Like I said, I hope it’s not too crazy .” Because he prepares and cares as much as anyone on this team: “I hope it will be good, better than worse.”
Hours later, after learning of the damage to the Premier League revealed in an MRI, Reilly said: “Devastating. That’s not something you want to hear from a man who works hard and is a master of his craft. He cares so much. You just feel it. He’s one of those people where it’s unfortunate, you hate it when something like that happens, but he’s someone who puts in the time and effort to get back to where he was. “And like I said, I feel it more than anything else.”
Catcher Travis d’Arnaud also used the word “devastating” to describe the news, adding: “This stinks. It stinks for us, but it really stinks for him. It stinks, man. It stinks.”
Strider allowed seven hits, five runs and three walks with four strikeouts in four innings in the Braves’ 10-inning win Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, after which he told the team’s trainer that his elbow was sore.
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Although Strider looked poor on Friday, with his fastball velocity down 1.3 mph since the start of Opening Day and below his 2023 average velocity, Snitker, his staff and catcher Travis d’Arnaud believed Strider had some kind of “open “Night had thing. That even the best pitchers have at least a few catches most seasons.
Snitker said the pitcher didn’t say anything about the elbow during his 88-pitch outing.
“No, only after,” Snitker said. “Because I know he said to someone, ‘I didn’t come back because they took me out of the game.’ I think if we had asked him to go back there, he would have come back and continued playing.”
The team was still working out the logistics of setting up that appointment with Meister in Texas, but it was clear from Snitker’s comments and tone that the Braves weren’t expecting any encouraging news from the specialist. Her medical staff has already seen the MRI, and at this point, “good news” seems unlikely.
“The good news is he’s going to figure it all out and come back and he’s going to have a really good career,” Snitker said.
A fourth-round pick of the Braves in 2020, Strider reached the major leagues after just 22 minor league games and led MLB in strikeouts and batting average in his first two full seasons in 2022–23, posting a mark of 31– 10 and a 3.36 ERA in 63 games, including 52 starts during that span, with an astonishing 483 strikeouts in 318 1/3 innings. He was 20-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 2023 and led the majors with an Atlanta record 281 strikeouts in 186 2/3 innings.
Before Friday, Strider needed just nine hits to become the fastest in MLB history to hit .500 among pitchers who were primarily starters.
(Photo: David J. Griffin/Ikon Sportswire via AP)
2024-04-07 11:10:05
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