Braves' Spencer Strider: Likely to start Tuesday

Strider (hamstring) appears set to return to Atlanta's rotation Tuesday versus Washington, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Manager Brian Snitker said late last week that Strider would be activated from the injured list to start one of the team's three games in Washington, and given that Atlanta has listed AJ Smith-Shawver and Chris Sale as its probable pitchers for Wednesday and Thursday, the writing is on the wall for Strider to return for the first game of the series. The ace right-hander will forego a minor-league rehab assignment, though he did toss 65 pitches in a sim game last Wednesday. He could be on some sort of a pitch count in his return, but he'll draw a favorable assignment against a Nationals lineup that ranks 20th in MLB in team OPS (.688).