Spencer Strider stymied the Mets in Atlanta, and now he can do so in New York
Once again, it’s me, doing game coverage for a Spencer Strider start. There are worse things in the world, truly.
So, how about Strider, huh? He came back, he wasn’t quite himself, he missed another month with a hamstring issue, came back again, was learning how to pitch with diminished velocity to some extent… and then he uncorked an amazing outing against very weak competition in the Rockies, albeit with a velocity uptick. Okay, fine, that was against the Rockies. But Strider came right back, and despite some traffic on the basepaths, dunked on the Mets last week.
So, just in case we need the gory numbers:
- Spencer Strider, season as a whole: 94 ERA-, 96 FIP-, 91 xFIP-, 95.4 mph average fastball velocity.
- Spencer Strider, first five starts: 131 ERA-, 140 FIP-, 123 xFIP-, 95.1 mph average fastball velocity.
- Spencer Strider, last two starts: 18 ERA-, 4 FIP-, 24 xFIP-, 96.1 mph average fastball velocity.
He’s also thrown more sliders over his last three starts as he makes some adjustments to a “can’t blow everyone away” state of being, but he might ramp back up there, too, who knows. Even if he doesn’t, the Braves should take six innings of 8/1 K/BB ratio ball without a homer allowed every time they can get it… especially since, for whatever reason, that was a game where Strider didn’t falter the third time through. That’s actually a pretty interesting thing in and of itself. If we go through Strider’s seven starts, his third-time-through experience has been as follows:
- First start: three batters, one walk, one homer, one out.
- Second start: one out.
- Third start: two walks, zero outs.
- Fourth start: One homer, one walk, two outs.
- Fifth start: One hit, six outs.
- Sixth start: One walk, three outs, two of which were strikeouts (for the first time all season, he hadn’t had a 3TTO strikeout until this outing).
- Seventh start (against the Mets): one walk, five outs, two strikeouts.
Like I said, yeah, we’ll take more of the same, please and thank you.
Opposing Strider will be Frankie Montas, who will be making his season debut after spending the first three-ish months of the season out of action due to a lat issue.
Montas has had a pretty erratic career to this point. He was initially signed by the Red Sox, but then traded to the White Sox in a three-team deal involving a bunch of other players. He got a cup of coffee with a couple of starts and some relief appearances in 2015 and acquitted himself well, only to be part of another three-team trade that sent him to the Dodgers. However, he had rib resection surgery, and then aggravated and (re-?)broke the rib on a rehab assignment, so he missed the season. He was then traded to Oakland in a deal that involved Grant Holmes going to the Dodgers, which is where he spent much of his career. He was horrid as a reliever in 2017, but then grew into his own as a starter in 2018-2019… until he got hit with a PED suspension. 2020 was a rough shortened season for Montas, but he bounced back with a career year in 2021 and more of the same for much of 2022, at least until the Athletics dealt him to the Yankees. He was a bust post-trade for the remainder of 2022, and then missed almost all of 2023 (he pitched one inning) with shoulder problems. The Reds took a gamble on giving him $14 million ahead of 2024, and he was their Opening Day starter, though he wasn’t very good. He ended up getting traded to the Brewers at the Trade Deadline, where he (unsurprisingly, considering the movement from one of those teams to the other) substantially improved. Got all that? Phew.
That brings us to 2025, where the Mets gave him $34 million over two years, with an opt-out. That seemed kind of weird considering his track record to date, but I’m not Steve Cohen. In true Mets fashion, Montas managed to get hurt with a lat strain while in spring camp. His rehab assignment has also gone terribly: he’s made six starts so far, two at High-A and four at Triple-A, where he’s managed a 12/10 K/BB ratio and hit two batters. Now, the focus in his rehab is probably on feeling healthy rather than pitching well, but the Mets probably aren’t exactly excited that the best he managed in any rehab start was a 3.53 FIP in High-A, and that he was essentially blasted out of the park by minor leaguers in the other five outings. Still, they don’t have much of a choice at this point, given that they’re down three starters at the moment, and prospects like Blade Tidwell and Brandon Sproat haven’t dominated Triple-A.
So, that brings us to today. Strider, who might continue his warpath now that he’s a bit healthier or better-adjusted to his new reality, and Montas, who is hoping he doesn’t get a rude greeting to 2025 games that count from the Braves.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, June 24, 7:10 p.m. EDT
Location: Citi Field, Flushing, NY
TV: FanDuel Sports South, Southeast, TBS (out-of-market only)
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan