Braves: Several Spencer Strider replacements struggling early

Fans of the Braves have no choice but to wait and hope that Spencer Strider’s second opinion yielded some encouraging news. The truth is that Strider will be out for a while, therefore one of the younger arms will have to step up. We should find out in a few days.

The preseason favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award will not be replaced by anyone. We spoke about the Braves starting pitching staff’s amazing depth during the summer, but very few players in the league could accomplish that. Despite the fact that every member of their AAA rotation has major league experience, the early season performances belie this.

When Allan Winans took the mound against the Mets on Thursday afternoon, Braves Country got a taste of a prospective successor for Spencer Strider, and it went about as bad as it could have. After giving up six earned runs in five innings, the 28-year-old, New York crushed Atlanta, 16–4.

Winans wasn’t actually the next in line for the position, though. It so happened that he was well-rested and prepared for the chance. He was already optioned back to Gwinnett, and he will be replaced by someone the following week.

Right now, there are essentially just three contenders to take the position: Dylan Dodd, Darius Vines, and Bryce Elder. With a ton of experience, Elder experienced exactly the same thing last year, starting the year in AAA before being called up fast to take Max Fried’s place in the rotation. Later, he was selected for the NL All-Star team.

Through two starts, Elder has a 2.61 ERA, but he did struggle his last time out, giving up three earned runs on six hits and three walks over four innings. I would consider him the favorite to take over, and hopefully, he can take the job and run with it, but don’t count out Dylan Dodd and Darius Vines

Vines has showcased some high quality swing-and-mis stuff early in the season, and Dodd shockingly made Atlanta’s Opening Day rotation a year ago. While things didn’t pan out like he might have hoped, a year of experience can change a lot. His stuff is major-league ready and looking the part through two starts, as he’s only allowed two runs over 11.2 innings.

The positive aspect of all of this is that it is April. There’s a lot of time, and the Braves have plenty of options to fill the void. They could even add someone at the trade deadline if things get worse, but the hope is that one of these guys can get to Atlanta and take a stranglehold of the opportunity.

Braves: Several Spencer Strider replacements struggling early

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