Spencer Strider’s spring training debut in 2026 was certainly an intriguing one, as Strider was clearly looking to accomplish his own set of goals in this one that may not have aligned with what the public speculation may be concerning his own profile as a pitcher at the moment.
As I mentioned in the game thread, all eyes were on starting pitcher Spencer Strider as he made his spring training debut in this one. Strider went three-up and three-down in the first inning before running into a little bit
of trouble in the second inning when he gave up his only run of the day on a sacrifice fly from Coby Mayo. That cam after Adley Rutschman smacked a 93-mph heater from Strider that was high and in the zone for a double, so there’s that.
Strider also picked up a pair of strikeouts along the way and aside from giving up two hits and a run, that was his only blemish on the day. Strider spoke with the media while the game was still going on and he seemed like he was fine with how things went on the day. It was also interesting to see that he did hear all of the speculation about the radar guns being turned off for his live BP sessions and the sarcasm he displayed near the end of this clip from Braves beat writer Mark Bowman of MLB.com suggests that he’s likely not too worried about it.
Following Strider’s two innings of work, Martin Pérez got the ball and pitched two innings where he only had to deal with one baserunner over the pair of innings that he tossed. Unfortunately, that one baserunner made it all the way around on a round-tripper after Adley Rutschman capped off a solid day at the plate with a solo homer.
That was as good as it got at the plate for the Orioles, though, as Braves pitchers proceeded to clamp down on Baltimore from that point forward. José Suarez added two more clean innings to his spring resume as he attepts to figure out a way to make the starting rotation for Opening Day. Javy Guerra continued to gear up for the World Baseball Classic as he tossed a scoreless inning and his performance was part of the Braves sitting down 11 Orioles batters in a row. Any day where you keep another team’s squad quiet like that over the course of a spring training game is a nice day.
Meanwhile at the plate, Chadwick Tromp certainly had a productive day swinging the bat, which Team Netherlands will surely be happy to see as he gets ready for the WBC, himself. He picked up an RBI single against Orioles starter Kyle Bradish and then later on in the game, Tromp took part in one of those moments that you tend to only see during spring training.
It all took place in the eighth inning, which is when John Gil won a seven-pitch battle against Chayce McDermott by hitting a dinger that put the Braves in the lead. Gil has reportedly been turning some heads so far this spring during camp and this was his first real flourish during a game, so that was encouraging to see. There wasn’t even time to really celebrate Gil’s dinger before Cal Conley took McDermott’s very next pitch and sent it deep for another home run. Conley likely wasn’t even done getting and giving high-fives of his own before Tromp proceeded to take the first pitch he saw from McDermott and crush it for a home run. Yep, that was back-to-back-to-back homers on three straight pitches. Welcome to spring training, folks.
Kyle Farmer contributed two hits of his own as Brett Wisely and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. each added hits of their own and Alex Lodise delivered an RBI double in the top of the ninth as the Braves proceeded to rack up a dozen hits in this one.
All in all, there was more to like instead of dislike in this one. Spencer Strider’s velocity was certainly the topic of the day and while it might be understandable to worry about the fact that he’s throwing 93 at this point, it’s also still February. On top of that, he seemed more focused on location and command rather than emptying the tank while trying to light up the radar gun. If he’s still throwing like this near the end of camp then that could be cause for concern but for now, it’s simply something to keep an eye on going forward. Again, the sarcasm was telling about whether or not this is something to really worry about.
Aside from that, it was nice to see the Braves look productive for the most part during another spring training game. If you’re the type who cares about the race for the Grapefruit League pennant, the Braves are doing alright at 5-2 at the moment. There will surely be some more peaks and valleys as spring progresses but for now, the Braves look like they’re making some steady progress towards Opening Day as the calendar changes from February to March.
