The Braves’ pitching mess just got a lot harder to ignore, and Spencer Strider’s timeline is right in the middle of it.
Atlanta is already slogging through one of its roughest stretches in recent memory. The early-season spark has vanished, the offense has dried up, and the rotation has been a mess beyond Chris Sale.
Even the bullpen is starting to wobble. In the middle of all that, the Braves still don’t have a clear answer on when - or if - Strider will be back in the mix this season.
Strider had been hoping 2025 would be the year he got back on track after his UCL brace procedure, but the road has not gone the way he wanted. His velocity has been an issue, his performance has suffered, and injuries have kept piling on.
He’s been on the IL since June 13, first landing on the 15-day IL before being moved to the 60-day IL on June 17 because of right elbow inflammation. That was a brutal update after he had just returned from an elbow injury.
Now there’s an even bleaker sign for Atlanta. Braves insider Mark Bowman recently wrote that the team should expect AJ Smith-Shawver and Spencer Schwellenbach back in September, but he does not believe the Braves can count on Strider to make another appearance this year.
That’s a tough blow for a club that badly needs stability on the mound. The Braves need dependable innings, and they need them soon. Instead, Strider looks increasingly like he won’t be part of the answer.
The contract situation only adds to the frustration. Strider has two years left on the six-year, $75 million deal he signed, with $20 million owed this season and $22 million due in both 2027 and 2028. That’s not the outcome Atlanta had in mind when it extended him, but both sides knew there was risk in locking up a young pitcher this early.
For now, there isn’t any trade value to work with, which leaves the Braves stuck paying him and hoping the final two years of the deal produce something closer to the ace they once had. If not, this is turning into a far rougher outcome than anyone around the team could have imagined.
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Burress would make plenty of sense if he is still there at No. 9, while Helfrick fits the sort of best-player-available approach teams lean on when the board breaks right. Dietz offers the kind of under-slot pitching profile clubs can use to keep the class balanced, and prep lefty Gio Rojas has also surfaced in mock chatter, though the volatility that comes with high school arms is part of the equation. For now, the Braves have options, not answers, and the shape of this draft could depend on which path they decide is worth the swing. [Read more 🡒]