Atlanta Braves Ace Spencer Strider Does Something That No Pitcher Has Ever Done Before
The Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon by a score of 7-5.
The Braves got important home runs from Austin Riley, Matt Olson and Orlando Arcia in the win, but they also got a historic pitching performance from right-hander Spencer Strider.
The righty out of Clemson went six innings, allowing four runs on four hits. He had just one walk but also struck out 13 in lowering his ERA to 3.78 on the season.
With the 13 strikeouts, Strider did something that no pitcher in baseball history has ever done.
Per ESPN Stats & Info:
Spencer Strider now has 354 strikeouts in his first 40 career starts, most by any pitcher since the mound was set to its current distance in 1893.
Yes, the strikeout is more prevalent now than its ever been, so it makes sense that this is done by someone recent, but still, that's nearly nine strikeouts per start, which is a massive rate.
With the no-decision, Strider remains at 11-3 on the season. He's struck out 189 batters in just 116.2 innings and has pitched to a 1.09 WHIP.
For his career, he's 23-8 with a 3.20 ERA. He made his debut in 2021 and was a fourth-round pick out of Clemson in the 2020 draft.
The Braves are now 62-33 on the season and own the best record in all of baseball. At the time of this posting, they are 10.5 games up on the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.
They'll play the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend.
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