Braves announce Spencer Strider as opening day starter
Strider gets the ball first against the Phillies, with the likelihood of Max Fried starting the home opener the following weekend.
Spencer Strider will start opening day for the Atlanta Braves, the club announced this afternoon. Strider will be opposed by fellow right-handed ace Zack Wheeler in the hostile confines of Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, April 28.
The Braves have not yet announced their rotation plans for games two and three of the series, but presumably Max Fried and either Chris Sale or Charlie Morton will take the mound. If Fried starts on Saturday in game two of the series, he would be on schedule to start the home opener in Atlanta on Friday, April 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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Strider is highly deserving of the opening day nod. The 25-year-old phenom is coming off a 2023 in which he struck out a league-best 281 hitters over 186 innings. All eyes will be on Strider’s new curveball, which he has frequently worked in this spring in an effort to expand his pitch mix and become even better than the guy who has a career 3.37 ERA and 2.48 FIP across his first two seasons.
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