Spencer Strider is already a good pitcher. He finished fourth in National League Cy Young voting after leading the league with 281 strikeouts during the 2023 season. On Monday, though, Strider threw a new pitch that caught everyone’s attention at Braves camp.

Strider appeared to throw a curveball while facing Braves first baseman Matt Olson, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic. Strider commented on whether or not he was indeed debuting a new curveball, via O’Brien as well.

“Kind of. I mean, we’re working on a couple things, just like playing with different shapes of the slider,” O’Brien said. “The terminology, you know, on all this stuff — sweeper, slider, cutter, curve, slurve, who knows what anything does? I think it’s just manipulating the ball a little more, seeing what kind of different shapes I can get. More so just kind of screwing around, taking that chance right now in live BP.”

Braves: Spencer Strider keeps getting better

Strider has a point. There are so many different pitches that do different things in this game, and what one pitcher calls a curveball another may refer to as a sweeper. The sweeper is baseball’s latest phenomenon, with many pitchers starting to throw it.

Regardless of what Strider calls his new pitch, the fact that he is working on a new weapon for his repertoire is something to take note of.

It should also be noted that Strider later said his strengths are still his “fastball” and “slider.” The two pitches work well off each other because they often look similar coming out of his hand. The slider, though, darts away from right-handed hitters and toward left-handed hitters.

So when you’re reaching triple-digits with the fastball and throwing a nasty slider, all hitters can really do is cross their fingers and sit on the heater. Or, they can exercise patience and work a walk.

Control has been problematic for Spencer Strider to begin his career. Despite his strong 2023 campaign, Strider still walked 58 batters (24th in MLB according to MLB.com).

His ERA ended up at a decent, albeit far from spectacular 3.86 mark. Strider’s inability to keep runners off base due to his control concerns played a role in his mediocre ERA.

So what does this mean for Strider moving forward as he prepares to lead the Braves rotation alongside Max Fried?

Adding a new pitch, whether it’s a curveball, sweeper, or something else, would give Strider more versatility on the mound. However, his primary focus needs to be on improving the control of his pitches. If Strider can limit walks on a more consistent basis, he will see his ERA dip significantly and he could end up taking home the 2024 NL Cy Young award.