Former Clemson Pitcher Spencer Strider Makes Impressive Season Debut for Atlanta Braves
The reigning World Series champions didn't have much to cheer about in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Opening Day, but one former Clemson Tigers pitcher provided some impressive highlights.
Atlanta Braves reliever Spencer Strider was fantastic in his season debut at Truist Park. The right-hander struck out five of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings.
His third career outing was his most dominant at the Major League level as Strider's strikeouts came on fastballs clocked at 99.2, 100.3, 100.3, 99.8 and 99.8 mph. Strider took the mound to start the sixth inning and Tommy Phan on six pitches.
After getting Reds star first baseman Joey Votto to fly out, Strider struck out Tyler Stephenson to end the inning. He came back in the seventh to strike out the side as Nick Senzel, Mike Moustakas and Kyle Farmer went down swinging.
"I was glad to get him in there," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "We wanted to get him a clean inning. You just never know where he's going to be either. This is a kid, he's got a big arm and hopefully we're going to work him into this thing because with an arm like that he has a chance of being a big part of what we're trying to do."
The 24-year-old threw 24 pitches total on Thursday, including 16 strikes. Strider heard from some old friends after the game.
Strider was selected in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft after pitching for two seasons at Clemson. He had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2019.
The Braves play their second game of the season at 7:20 p.m. Friday as -196 favorites against the Reds, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
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