The North Port Report: Spencer Strider Set For First Spring Training Start

Here's everything you need to know from Braves Spring Training in North Port, FL from Thursday

Welcome to The North Port Report, your nightly notebook from Braves spring training. Each evening, we’ll run through the biggest developments from camp: roster battles, injury updates, standout performances, and the small details that matter more than they seem in February. The games may not count yet, but the information does.

Here’s what stood out today

We finally have a start date for Spencer Strider.

The righthander is only member of Atlanta’s projected starting rotation to not yet appear in an official Grapefruitn League game, making his first scheduled start on a minor league backfield instead of on the road earlier this week.

He’ll take the mound on Saturday in Sarasota against the Orioles.

Choosing to get in work on a backfield instead of on the road is a common choice by MLB veterans as they focus on slowly building towards the regular season. Strider spoke to Chad Bishop of the AJC about his process of preparing for the regular season, saying that he was attempting to take it slow and check in with his body as he progresses through March:

“Finding a healthy balance between accommodating the increased volume you’re experiencing in the spring and then kind of monitoring, with the intensity in mind, how the mechanics are and finding ways to practice stuff given that you’re increasing your volume and fatiguing for the first in a while.”

The full article, with lengthy quotes from the ever-thoughtful Strider, can be found on ajc.com.

Quick Hits

• The Braves had an outing to forget in Tampa in their only road trip to face the Yankees. Carlos Carrasco didn’t get out of the first before the Yankees batted around, ultimately giving up five runs on four hits and a walk. Ben Gamel homered for the second time this spring, while Nacho Alvarez Jr. ripped a 106.9 mph double and drove in two runs. More on him tomorrow.

• Chris Sale will make his second start of the spring this Friday at home against the Red Sox, opposed by youngster Brayan Bello.

• Speaking of Chris Sale: he has a sword now. Mizuno, the Japanese sports equipment company that Sale’s used since before he entered the league in 2010, rewarded him for his 17 years of loyalty to the company with a special gift - his own samurai sword. An excited Sale posed with the sword, exclaiming, “I’m going to tell my catchers that I’m finally calling my own pitches.”

  • Speaking of swords, MLB.com confirmed that Sale is one of the best in all of baseball at producing the awkward swings that Pitching Ninja calls swords, with Sale’s 65 since the second-half of 2023 being the 10th-most in baseball.

Roster Battle Tracker

Stock UP

Ben Gamel. The NRI outfielder continued his torrid spring, hitting his 2nd homer of Grapefruit League play and generally looking like a menace in the box. He’s being more selective, which harkens back to his 2024 season when he rode a career-low swing rate of 38.1% to a career best 114 wRC+.

With the final roster spot being unsettled, it’s possible he could continue to play his way into a bench role for the start of the season.

Stock DOWN

Carlos Carrasco. Yes, it’s a small sample size (everything in this section comes out of small sample sizes) but Carrasco’s historic first inning struggles aren’t in the rearview mirror. He just could not find the third out today, getting two quick flyouts (sandwiching a walk of Aaron Judge) before giving up four consecutive hits, including a wall-scraping home run to Jazz Chisholm.

While I’m still confident Carrasco could be an emergency depth option for a ‘five-and-dive’ spot start, the Braves are in trouble if they need him for anything more than that.

Observation of the Day

Someone, either the organization or the player himself (or both), has done work with minor leaguer Anthony Molina. As the kids say, someone cooked here.

Claimed from the Rockies off waivers in December, Molina came into today’s game and promptly averaged 97.3 mph on his 4S fastball and 97.8 on his sinker, between two and three mph harder than his career highs. He’s also getting more horizontal movement on his changeup and nearly 2 mph more velo on his gyro slider, so everything’s a bit more impressive than the last time we saw him with Colorado.

The extra velocity and movement has taken his overall Stuff+ score from a below-average 96 to an above-average 107, with all but one of his six pitches grading in as plus or better.

The 24-year-old has just over one year of service time and two remaining minor league options, but could quickly end up in Atlanta’s pen this season if injuries strike.

Tomorrow’s watch list

It’s a Chris Sale start day and I’m hopeful we see something of the MLB relievers behind him - Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, Aaron Bummer, and Joel Payamps have all yet to get into a spring training game.