Less than a week into his second professional season, Spencer Strider has already shown he might be able to strengthen two components of the defending World Series champions’ roster.
The good news is the Braves have seemingly found a gem in Strider. The bad news is the reliever’s early entrance into Monday night’s ugly 11-2 loss to the Nationals only enhanced questions and concerns about the back end of Atlanta’s rotation.
As the Braves lost for the third time in five games, they were limited to just four hits, two in the first inning against spot starter Josh Rogers and two in the ninth well after the outcome was decided.
More importantly, they were reminded that Huascar Ynoa continued his decline and forced manager Brian Snitker to eventually use Tuesday’s planned starter, Tucker Davidson, as a reliever in this series opener. Ynoa completed just three innings one day after the Braves got just 2 2/3 innings out of Ian Anderson.
