Throwback Thursday: The last Atlanta pitcher with strikeout stuff like Spencer Strider was John Smoltz

The Braves legend was the last player until Strider to have 9+ strikeouts in eight consecutive starts

Spencer Strider is, in a word, filthy. 

The second-year pitcher made history last year with the highest K/9 for any non-reliever, striking out 202 batters in only 131.2 innings for an absurd 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings. He's on an even higher plane of performance so far in 2023, with 14.7 strikeouts per nine innings (36 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched). 

There's a precedent for strikeout dominance in Atlanta: John Smoltz.

Many folks know him as the on-air broadcaster for TBS that seems to be frustrated about the prevalence of analytics in baseball, but before that he was one of the more prolific strikeout artists of his generation, punching out over three thousand batters on his way to a 1996 Cy Young award, eight All-Star nods, and induction in the Baseball of Hall of Fame in 2015. 

Strider just recently tied Smoltz's Atlanta record for eight consecutive appearances with at least nine strikeouts. Our friends over at Braves on TBS shared the video of the first and last games of Smoltz's streak on twitter:

#ThrowbackThursday | @braves_today

Tuesday night, Spencer Strider tied John Smoltz‘s franchise record of 9+ strikeouts in 8 consecutive starts. Smoltz accomplished this feat between 7/25/97 and 8/29/97 and here’s a look at most of his strikeouts from the 2 games (7/25 vs Reds,… pic.twitter.com/9hwmi7Cm1M

— Braves on TBS (@BravesOnTBS) April 20, 2023

Smoltz's streak would end on September 3rd, in a 12-4 loss to Detroit where he was tagged for ten hits and eight runs in three and a third innings, only striking out four. He'd rebound from that start to strike out 10 in his next appearance, though, a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 9th. 

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