Braves' Spencer Strider reminds he's 'different than everybody else' in NL East-clinching gem
PHILADELPHIA — Spencer Strider knows he's had a weird year.
Dominant and vulnerable. Untouchable and exposed. A strikeout machine susceptible to a sudden avalanche of runs. He will get Cy Young votes, which will make some other people furious that he got Cy Young votes. The Braves flamethrower is posting the best single-season strikeout rate in baseball history, while somehow carrying a 3.83 ERA into his most recent start.
Somehow finding a way to bridge the gap between his sensational expected ERA and his pedestrian actual ERA is vital for an Atlanta team floating toward the postseason. Getting Strider purring at his horrifying best must be a top. In his previous two outings before Wednesday, Strider had allowed 10 runs in 8 1/3 shaky innings, despite feeling "right" and maintaining his eye-popping velocity.
To succeed and fail simultaneously is an odd experience. But Strider believes, firmly, that he cannot let bad results beyond his control influence good process. And few can boast a better process than throwing a 99 mph unicorn fastball.
On Wednesday night, that faith was rewarded with a spectacular showing against the Phillies in a 4-1 win that clinched the Braves' sixth straight division title. The evening was a full-circle moment for Strider, who played a key role in Atlanta's premature playoff capitulation a season ago.
Last October, Atlanta's season ended at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, in large part because a fresh-off-the-IL Strider didn't have his usual elite fastball velocity in his NLDS Game 3 start. Instead of the trademark 98, Strider was 93 that day, and thus found himself on the receiving end of Rhys Hoskins' bat spike heard around the world. The loss stuck with him through the winter, admitting to FOX Sports in spring training that he "takes responsibility for the whole season falling apart."
But on Wednesday night, 11 months after his heat went cold, Strider doused the Phillies' lineup in kerosine and struck a match, carrying his club to an NL East clincher in the process. On the same mound that sunk him to a professional low last October, the mustachioed righty rose to the occasion, allowing just a single run with nine punchouts in seven spectacular innings.
While the symbolism of returning to the arena that humbled him is hard to ignore, Strider himself couldn't give a damn. He respects the Phillies' offense — to beat them, that's a must — but he doesn't hold any negative feelings toward the venue, he harbors no particular disdain toward the team that sent the Braves packing an autumn ago.
"Everybody thinks I should have animosity towards Philly," a champagne-soaked Strider said in the post-game celebration. "But for me, when I'm on the mound, every team sucks. They're all the enemy."
That unapologetic on-mound ferocity is part of what makes Strider a singular force. Yes, he is generationally gifted with a magic fastball bestowed upon his right arm by a greater power, but to contain greatness and to manifest it into being are two very different things. Ask anybody around the Braves about their thick-thighed hurler, and they'll speak volumes about the intentionality of his preparation, the intensity of his presence and his conviction in his ability.
"He's different than everybody else," glowed Sean Murphy, who caught Strider on Wednesday night. "It's special."
Special is to stare misfortune in the face and laugh at it, to not let a stream of bad results interrupt good process. That requires perspective and unshakable faith in one's ability and one's plan. For Strider, a comically cerebral dude for a professional athlete, that conviction hasn't always come easy. The mental hurdles are often the harder part, the trusting in himself, the not overthinking or second-guessing. Throwing cheddar is light work.
But now, as the weather begins to turn cold and the postseason approaches, the Braves right-hander finds himself in a strong place, fully at peace with the relative unluckiness of his season, in total control of what he can control.
"A hitter is gonna do what they're gonna do, especially when I pitch," Strider said. "Once I throw it, I have no control. I don't believe in metaphysics, necessarily, but I guess I have to feel my conviction makes a difference in the outcomes sometimes."
On Wednesday night, Strider looked convicted and confident. The outcome showed it. After Phillies center fielder Johan Rojas fouled off his 109th pitch of the evening, a 98.8 mph heater, Strider came back with a dastardly slider below the zone to induce a strikeout. Heading back toward the dugout, Strider slammed his pitching hand into his glove in celebration, a small, but rare sign of outward spice from his typically stoic on-mound persona.
And while the mustachioed hurler isn't in line to pitch in Citizens Bank Park in a potential NLDS matchup (Strider will be the Game 1 or 2 starter and thus will pitch at home), the Phillies' lineup will get one more crack at Strider. Whenever that time comes, the Braves can feel a bit more confident that Strider will be at his rip-roaring best.
Jake Mintz, the louder half of @CespedesBBQ is a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He played college baseball, poorly at first, then very well, very briefly. Jake lives in New York City where he coaches Little League and rides his bike, sometimes at the same time. Follow him on Twitter at @Jake_Mintz.
