Spencer Strider of the Atlanta Braves receives unsettling MRI results.
Regarding the health of starting pitcher Spencer Strider, who is undoubtedly going to be placed on the injured list, the Atlanta Braves received alarming news on Saturday.
This seems like a prelude to Strider’s second Tommy John surgery of his career, even though nothing official has been decided. It also carries on the current spate of injuries to ace-caliber pitchers. Tommy John has taken out past Cy Young winners Robbie Ray, Sandy Alcantara, and Shane Bieber in only the last season and a half.
Furthermore, Eury Perez, Shane McClanahan and Jacob deGrom have all suffered the same fate, while Walker Buehler, Chris Paddack, Casey Mize and Tyler Mahle also had the injury between 2021 and 2022.
Strider is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and he led the league in strikeouts last season. The All-Star’s loss will be a big loss for the Braves’ rotation, but they do seem good enough to weather the storm for a while with depth provided from Chris Sale, Charlie Morton, and Max Fried.
Bryce Elder seems likely to take his place in the rotation and the Braves also have Ian Anderson set to come back from his own Tommy John surgery later this summer.
More to come on this as we learn more about Strider’s doctor visit…
In an NL East matchup, Arcia scores twice and Murphy hits a long ball to lead the Braves against the Phillies 7-2.
(AP) – Orlando Arcia hit a pair of solo homers, the first one as part of back-to-back shots with Sean Murphy in the third inning, to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night. While both teams are about a lock to reach the playoffs, a split of the first two games of a four-game weekend set between the NL East rivals moved the Braves within five games of the division-leading Phillies with 27 games left in the season. Reynaldo López (8-4) won his second straight start and has seemingly rebounded from an 0-3 June. López gave up one run and tossed four-hit ball over six innings. He struck out six. Bryce Harper doubled twice off López — giving him 33 this season — and singled but while wearing a black sleeve on his right arm. A two-time NL MVP, Harper told MLB.com ahead of the game he’s battled nagging wrist and elbow issues.
“It’s not crazy, but it’s definitely there,” Harper stated. Harper has not homered in 78 plate appearances since August 9.
For the Phillies, Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto both had a home run.
Ranger Suárez (11-6) made his second start after missing just over a month due to lower back discomfort, striking out the first five batters. The string of strikeouts for the left-hander would not last.
In the third inning, catcher Murphy (.216 batting average) smashed his eighth home run of the year, giving Arcia his 14th home run of the year and a 2-0 lead. In the fourth, Suárez gave up two RBI groundouts, one of which went to Murphy, giving the opposition a 4-0 lead.
With a 5-0 lead, Arcia struck out again in the sixth inning off reliever Max Lazar.
Suárez had a 10-1 start and was selected to his first All-Star team before any chance of winning the Cy Young Award was dashed by injuries and a hint of inefficiency. For the fourth time in his previous five outings, he gave up at least three earned runs in four innings while striking out five.
The lead was held by Pierce Johnson, Joe Jiménez, and Dylan Lee the night before the Phillies overcame a 4-0 deficit to defeat the Braves 5-4, matching their biggest comeback victory of the year.
