Strider out for season following UCL surgery
Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider will miss the rest of the 2024 season after undergoing surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow with an internal brace, the club announced Saturday.
Strider's procedure was performed by Dr. Keith Meister on Friday.
Last weekend, Atlanta discovered the right-hander had damage to his UCL after dealing with elbow discomfort and a velocity drop in his second start of the new campaign.
Strider also missed all of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season due to Tommy John surgery in 2019.
The 25-year-old ends the year with a 7.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts over nine innings. The 2023 All-Star won 20 games with a 2.85 FIP and an MLB-best 13.5 K/9 among qualified starters over 186 2/3 innings last season to finish fourth in NL Cy Young voting.
Losing Strider is a big blow for the Braves and their World Series aspirations. The team's rotation is now down to Max Fried, Chris Sale, Charlie Morton, and Reynaldo López. Sale is 35 and has made a combined 33 starts since 2021 due to injuries, and Morton is pitching in his age-40 campaign. López hasn't been a starter since 2019.