Strider to begin rehab starts next week
Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider cleared another hurdle on his road to returning to MLB action, throwing three simulated innings Saturday at Truist Park hours before his teammates played the Guardians.
Strider, on the 15-day injured list since the start of the season because of a strained oblique, will make his first rehab start in the minor leagues next week, Braves manager Walt Weiss said Saturday.
“He’s on the right path,” Weiss said. “But, you know how it is with starters, it takes time. We got to build him back up now. So that’s gonna take probably the rest of the month. If I had to guess, he’s gonna have to go out and make multiple rehab starts. Just takes time to get a starting pitcher back.”
Strider was throwing his fastball around 95 mph Saturday, according to the Truist Park scoreboard. He also mixed in an 83-mph slider and 78-mph curveball. It was the next step for the right-hander who also threw a bullpen session in Phoenix and another in Anaheim, California last week.
Weiss said next for Strider will be to throw 40-45 pitches in a rehab start, tentatively scheduled for April 16, for a yet-to-be-determined team.
The 27-year-old Strider has only pitched in 25 games since his All-Star season in 2023. He missed 2024 because of an ulnar collateral ligament injury and parts of 2025 with a hamstring injury.
Strider pitched in three games during spring training, making two starts, before shutting down his preseason in March.
“I do think that it could have been a lot worse if he makes that (last) start in spring training,” Weiss said. “Remember when we retrace our steps back to that day, and he makes that start and the thing’s way worse and now we’re looking at multiple months. So I think it was great that he, in a sense, got out in front of this to some degree. And on the back end of this, (the return is) going to be a lot quicker.”
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