Braves' Spencer Strider: Arsenal could expand

Strider unveiled a curveball during a live batting practice session against Matt Olson on Monday, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

After the BP session, Strider was reluctant to label his new toy as a true curveball, instead suggesting it was just a modified version of his slider. "The terminology, you know, on all this stuff - sweeper, slider, cutter, curve, slurve, who knows what anything does? I think it's just manipulating the ball a little more, seeing what kind of different shapes I can get." The right-hander has become one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball while relying on two pitches, a fastball that in 2023 had an average velocity of 97.2 mph (93rd percentile) and a slider that generated a 55.3 percent whiff rate. Strider did sprinkle in a changeup once in a while last year (7.3 percent), but if he can add another breaking pitch as well, at-bats against him could become even more frustrating.