Braves’ Spencer Strider Breaks Silence on Injury Return ‘Failures’

The Atlanta Braves earned a win against the division rival Washington Nationals on Monday, but the team has already acknowledged that its season will end later this month.

Now the Braves will be left to regroup this winter after several injury setbacks for their star players. And nobody faces a more uncertain future than former franchise ace Spencer Strider.

“My anticipation this whole season was that I was going to have some rough patches and then have to continually work to make adjustments,” Spencer said after his start on Monday, per Gabe Lacques of USA Today. “To try to put myself in a good position … in the postseason. That didn’t happen, largely due to my own failures this season not being able to tread water well enough for us, giving us a chance to win games while working through that stuff I knew I’d inevitably have to do.”

Strider logged six strikeouts with just one earned run in seven innings on Monday and seems to have improved on the mound after posting a 10.13 ERA in four starts in August. But it’s possible fans will never see a full return to his 20-win form from two years ago.

Without a chance at the playoffs, Strider is trying to take some positives out of his personal improvement in recent starts, even as it seems like his fastball velocity could be gone for good after his injuries.

“We’re not going to have that opportunity to pitch in the postseason,” Strider added. “But trying to make something out of this year knowing I was going to be struggling and working through things is encouraging, for sure.”

Strider is set to make two more starts before the Braves’ season officially ends. While he could be searching for his former fastball over the winter, he’ll surely be content with a healthy and durable return if it means a playoff berth next year.

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