Braves ace Spencer Strider has been a major-league starter for less than a year, and he’s already broken a number of records — both franchise and MLB.
On a September night last year, the hard-throwing righty set a single-game franchise mark for strikeouts in a game with 16 over eight innings against the Colorado Rockies. Strider became the fastest pitcher ever to 200 strikeouts as well, breaking a record previously held by Randy Johnson. He’s also the only pitcher in MLB history to ever strike out 200 batters in a season without giving up 100 hits.
Strider is one of the greatest pure pitching talents the league has ever seen. As long as he can stay healthy, he’ll own a number of records by the time his career is finished, and the next one up is John Smoltz‘s streak of most consecutive starts with 9+ strikeouts for the Braves.
In Spencer Strider’s next start, which is scheduled for San Diego next week, he’ll be attempting to tie Smoltz’s record. He’s already faced the Padres once, going five innings and allowing three runs with nine strikeouts. It won’t be an easy task against one of the best lineups in the league, but Strider looked the best he has all season at the end of his last outing versus the Reds.
If Strider keeps the streak going against San Diego, his chance to break the record will come against the Houston Astros at Truist Park, which will be one of the most anticipated matchups of the regular season in a rematch of the 2021 World Series.
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