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Here’s How Spencer Strider Did in His 2025 Rehab Stint

Originally posted on New Baseball Media
By Chris Studley | Last updated Apr 14, 2025 2:51 PM ET

The Braves will get Spencer Strider back this week, as he’s scheduled to start on April 16. It would mark Strider’s first start in over a calendar year and will return to MLB action after an internal brace, spring work, and almost 14 innings of Minor League baseball. Here’s what Strider did before his return to the Braves.

A Look at Strider’s Numbers

The short answer: pretty good, to say the least.

Spencer Strider led the International League in total strikeouts (27), as he averaged nearly two strikeouts per inning over the 13.2 frames he threw with Gwinnett. Additionally, opposing hitters only hit .111 off the right-hander.

The surface numbers were very good but so were some of the other important metrics on Strider’s ledger.

One, the whiffs. Strider netted himself 55 whiffs on the rehab assignment. That’s a 46.2% Whiff% rate down on the farm for Strider.

Strider had no problems getting induced movement on the fastball from his high-3/4 arm slot. In Triple-A, the average IVB on the four-seamer was 17.6”, not only above what would be considered the league average but also closer to his numbers from 2023.

Strider got, on average, 18.3” of induced break in 2023 but just 17.3” in his injury-shortened season.

Spencer Strider 2025 Rehab Pitch Movement While Strider’s induced ride isn’t as high yet, the pitch movement profiles on his stuff has been consistent (via New Baseball Media)

Next up is the velocity. While Strider hit as high as 98 MPH in his rehab assignment, the Braves starter wasn’t able to maintain that velocity with Gwinnett (AAA). The average on it was 95.7 MPH. That’s roughly 1.5 MPH down from from where he was on average in 2023 (97.2 MPH).

It’s not surprising to see Strider down that much, as he’s still building up to where was pre-surgery. But for those hoping to see Strider gassing it up to 98-99 on the regular, don’t.

Another interesting plotline was how Strider used his curveball, a relatively new addition to his arsenal last season and a pitch he used occasionally during his spring outings. Last season, the pitch was used 12% by Strider, mixed in against both lefties and righties. But during his time with the Stripers, it was down to 5%.

Strider used it most of the time — 12 of 13 times — against left-handed hitters.

It’ll be interesting to see how exactly Strider will look to attack left-handed hitters in 2025. The curveball is an excellent weapon to bait in lefties expecting a breaking ball down and in the “happy zone” — down and in.

But on top of that pitch, Strider also has a changeup that he doesn’t use as much but is a weapon of an offspeed pitch, one with a roughly 10-13 MPH separation from the fastball.

Those are numbers to chew on before Strider’s MLB return, as he’ll join a rotation that includes Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Grant Holmes, and Bryce Elder. Reynaldo Lopez is injured, while AJ Smith-Shawver was recently demoted to Gwinnett (AAA).

This article first appeared on New Baseball Media and was syndicated with permission.

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