Athlete Profile: Spencer in Stride(r)
Quick Notes:
- League-average WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) is around 1.24; anything LOWER is good anything HIGHER is not good
- League-average ERA (earned run average) is around 3.77; anything below is GREAT anything above is NOT great
- Slash line is a colloquial term used to represent a player’s batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage (in that order).
One of the hardest tasks as a pitcher in the MLB is striking a batter out. While it may be easy to throw strikes, finishing the batter off by striking them out is about as difficult as it gets for pitchers. While many may think of Jacob Degrom and Max Scherzer as dominant strikeout leaders, the current league leader in K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings) is Spencer Strider, a rookie starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. Strider is leading pitchers in a lot of strikeout statistical categories and is a name that should be watched over the next couple of years.
Spencer Strider was selected in the 2020 Amateur Draft with the 126th overall pick by the Atlanta Braves and is a promising young pitcher (only 23 years old). Strider is practically new to the MLB this season as he only made 2 appearances in the last season and only pitched 2.1 innings. To start the 2022 season, Strider had been mostly used as a relief pitcher until a few weeks ago when he took the 5th spot in the Braves rotation and hasn’t looked back.
This season, Strider has a 2.35 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 38.1 innings pitched with 2 wins and 2 losses. Strider has amassed 57 strikeouts to 19 walks leading to a whopping 36.8 K% (top 1% in the league) and a 12.2 BB%. Strider has a great K/BB ratio at 3.00 meaning that for every 3 batters he strikes out, he walks 1 batter (3Ks/1BB). Surprisingly, Strider also leads the whole league in K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings) at 13.38.
One of the leading factors for Strider’s strikeout success is his pitch selection. Strider throws his 4-seam fastball (71.2% of the time), slider (23.6% of the time), and changeup (5.2% of the time. Strider throws an above average fastball at around 98.3 mph which adds to his strikeout totals. Generally, Strider overpowers hitters with his fastball early in the count and then puts them away with his 85.4 mph slider — for hitters, that’s a 13 mph difference between the fastball and his slider.
One impressive metric by the 23 year old rookie is his whiff %. In the 2021 season, Strider had a whiff % of 20.8% and this season, he has a whiff % of 34% (13.2% increase). Spencer’s ability to get batters to whiff on his pitches only makes it easier for him to strike out batters. Another impressive stat by Strider is his opponent batting average which is sitting at a measly .176 — which means that opposing hitters do not get very many hits when facing him.
Spencer Strider is pitching like an elite ace right now and shows no signs of slowing down. The Atlanta Braves should be more than pleased with Strider as he was selected in the 4th round with the 25th pick. Although some statistical regression is due, with Strider’s elite fastball and good slider, he should continue striking out batters and leading pitchers in all strikeout statistical categories. Within a few years, I can see Strider developing into an ace and making his first all-star game appearance. Both Spencer Strider and the Atlanta Braves have a bright future ahead as Strider continues to gain MLB experience and play against the best.
Matthew Suh is a staff writer and contributor for Talking Points Sports and The Press Box. While Matthew covers football, basketball, and baseball he tends to focus on writing about the MLB and baseball Questions about the MLB or baseball? Follow or DM Matthew on Twitter @matthewsuh for inquiries and be sure to follow @TalkingPointsSports on Twitter for the latest sports content!
