ATLANTA — Braves rookie Spencer Strider has a sore left oblique and will not make his next start in Philadelphia.
Strider, the fastest pitcher to record 200 strikeouts in a single season, told the team he didn’t feel right after making his last start, a 5-2 victory Sunday over the Phillies.
“It’s not that we’re going to (put him on the injured list),” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “We just don’t want to take any chances. He wanted pitch, and we kind of took it out of his hands. And I’m glad he said something.
“That was smart of him because it’s just something that, if we don’t stay ahead of something like that, it could be an end of the year type thing.”
Strider will continue to play catch and when he feels good, the Braves will slot him back into the rotation.
“We talked about it yesterday,” Snitker said. “I think he felt it during the start. He mentioned something afterwards and treated him up yesterday. He was intent on making his next start and probably could, but we don’t want to take a chance.”
Atlanta will start Bryce Elder on Wednesday against Washington and push Max Fried back one day for the first of a four-game series that begins Thursday against the Phillies.
Strider has been excellent in his first full season with Atlanta, going 11-5 with a 2.67 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 31 appearances (20 starts). He has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in a game six times this season, including twice this month — striking out 16 against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 1, and 10 in his most recent start Sunday against the Phillies.
He reached 200 strikeouts in 130 innings, two-thirds of an inning quicker than Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 2001.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.