Braves pitcher Strider: In baseball, 'the brain is a pretty powerful muscle'

Caption

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Monday, April 24, 2023, in Atlanta.

Credit: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Braves ace Spencer Strider has, as of June 30, a 9-2 record over 16 starts and 146 strikeouts, the most in Major League Baseball. Known for his blazing fastball and his signature moustache, Strider has become a cornerstone of a starting rotation that's missing two strong arms to injuries (Kyle Wright and Max Fried). GPB's Peter Biello recently caught up with Strider at Truist Park.

Peter Biello: Can you tell me a little bit about your pitching this year and how you feel like you've been doing?

Spencer Strider: We're doing well. Unfortunately [we've] had some injuries and been trying to, you know, piece it together at times. But everybody stepped up and guys like [Jared] Schuster and [AJ] Smith-Shawver and a bunch of guys have contributed, and they've done well. And so we're looking to carry that success in the second half. And one thing we learned from last year, that the goal is to just be good and healthy at the end of the season. So not necessarily max out right now.

Peter Biello: [As of the end of June], you're leading the majors in strikeouts. How do you feel about your performance in particular?

Spencer Strider: ... That's a cool stat, I suppose. I think it's been sometimes where I've been a little less effective than I'd like to be this year. So the goal is just to really put us in a position to win the game — every fifth day — and strikeouts can sometimes help that. But, you know, there's a general effectiveness I'd like to achieve that's not necessarily dependent upon strikeouts.

Peter Biello: So you're not really watching the stats very closely. You're thinking about your own performance in different ways.

Spencer Strider: Yeah, I mean, like I said, my goal is to just put us in a position to win the game. There's a context there that's dependent upon how that specific game's going. So some days I don't have to be awesome. I just need to go tit-for-tat with the other starter and try to save the bullpen. And that's kind of really all I can control, is those smaller things. And I try not to get too in-depth with statistics.

Peter Biello: When I've seen you speak at press conferences after the game, you've made frequent mentions to mental coaching and your mental skills. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? What goes into that? Is that part of keeping your calm on the mound, keeping your focus, being confident, all of the above? What is it?

Spencer Strider: Yeah, I'd say all the above. I think that the brain is a pretty powerful muscle, maybe more so than anything else. And specifically in baseball, there's a lot of adversity and success is difficult to define. And how you train your mind to evaluate yourself and prepare for that specific day or a series of starts or whatever is huge. And so you can sort of make up for a lot of other deficiencies or things you can't control with how you think and how you control your own thoughts.

Peter Biello: Can you give me an example of that? Like  how do you make up for a deficiency by changing your thought pattern?

Spencer Strider: I think confidence is one. Sort of believing in the effectiveness of yourself. I mean, speaking specifically as a pitcher, there are days where you're not going to feel great and visually things may not seem like they're going to go well. And the brain's ability to sort of mask that can be very effective.

Peter Biello: So going forward through the season, what do you think you'll be working on?

Spencer Strider: Continuing to get deeper into games. Like I said, put us in position to win and as we get deeper, a starter's ability to handle more innings is going to be huge. Save the bullpen. That's really the biggest piece I think of a team in terms of their success in the postseason is how rested and effective the bullpen can be. And so if we can as starters take some load off of them, that's going to be huge.

Peter Biello: Last question, not really a baseball question, but you're being referred to as "Mustache Man." How do you feel about that nickname?

Spencer Strider: I'm not particularly you know — I don't, I don't really have a strong opinion on it, I guess?

Peter Biello: But you're smiling.

Spencer Strider: It's a frequent question. So I mean, there are days where I'd like to shave it and just sort of go back to anonymity. But I think I might have missed that chance a little while ago. So it's just something I roll with now.