During a pretty somber Saturday afternoon press conference, the Braves held fast to the premise that no news is good news, and the presence of news, well, sucks:
Spencer Strider today underwent an MRI that revealed damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He will be further evaluated by Dr. Keith Meister in Arlington, TX, at a date yet to be determined.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 6, 2024
For those of you just catching up, Spencer Strider had a poor start on Friday night before the Braves walked it off, and apparently mentioned he felt some arm discomfort to a member of the training staff after the game, which prompted today’s MRI. As it turns out, the MRI revealed some damage, and, well… we don’t know exactly what this means at the moment, but it’s not great.
The Braves will now need to scramble to supplement their rotation. Bryce Elder, who “lost” the fifth starter spot to Reynaldo Lopez during the March exhibition season, is probably the obvious candidate, but the Braves may also pivot in some other direction. A.J. Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep are also theoretical candidates, but with the minor league season just kicking off at this point, it remains to be seen whether the Braves will leapfrog Elder in the pecking order.
It’s a pretty devastating blow for both Strider and the Braves. The 25-year-old right-hander was projected to be in the conversation for, if not outright, the best starter in baseball in the coming year, after a 2023 in which he posted 5.5 fWAR, second in all of MLB among pitchers. Strider has already had one Tommy John Surgery, and while it’s not certain that a second one is in the cards (though it’s at least somewhat likely), the prognosis for returning from multiple ulnar collateral ligament reconstructions is not particularly sanguine.
The Braves will try to move past the immediate ramifications of this news as they have an opportunity to take the series against the Diamondbacks tonight at 7:20 pm ET. Max Fried, who had a career-worst outing last time out, might be feeling like he needs a huge bounceback to stabilize the rotation.
Stay tuned for more updates as we have them…
