Braves ace Spencer Strider missed essentially all of last season. He started to feel discomfort in his elbow during Spring Training, and after just two starts, in which he didn’t look at all like his typical dominant self, it was announced he was out for the season with a torn UCL.
A typical recovery timeline for a torn UCL is anywhere from 12-18 months, sometimes even longer. However, that’s if the pitcher undergoes Tommy John surgery. More recently, an alternative option, known as internal brace surgery, has become increasingly popular. That’s the route Spencer Strider decided to take, which has a recovery time of around 9-12 months.
That puts him on track to potentially be ready for Opening Day, and Strider is confident he will not miss too much time based on how the rehab has gone to this point.
“If everything stays on track then we should be coming into spring training kind of in a normal environment in a way I’ll be facing hitters at the end of February and pitching in games and spring training and then hopefully shortly after the season I’m at a point where I’m effective enough and feel good and have achieved what we need to in the program to to pitch big league games,” Strider said on the Casa De Klub podcast, via Sportskeeda.Â
Earlier this month, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported the expectation is for Spencer Strider to miss the first month of the season, while Ronald Acuña Jr. will miss at least six weeks. That feels reasonable, given Strider’s recent comments. It’s possible he could be back sooner than that, but due to the nature of the injury and his importance to the Braves, not just now but for years to come, there’s no reason to push things. The goal is for Strider to be healthy in October, not April.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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