Braves Potentially Monumental: Three(3) Unbelievable Projections for the Atlanta Braves Ace in 2024 and Braves once again release veteran infielder
2024 is shaping up to be a potentially monumental year for the Atlanta Braves, particularly for superstar ace, Spencer Strider. The whispers are growing louder in the baseball community, and many are starting to believe that Strider could be on track to win the coveted Triple Crown.
It seems unreal for a 25-year-old pitcher, yet Strider already has the Braves franchise record holder for strikeouts in a season for a team with an illustrious history of HOF pitchers. Today, let’s dive into realistic expectations for the Braves young ace.
Bold Predictions for Spencer Strider in 2024
He Breaks the Braves Strikeout Record Again
The first of our bold predictions for Spencer Strider is he will eclipse 300 Ks this year. Joining the ranks of Nolan Ryan, Walter Johnson, Randy Johnson, and Sandy Koufax, he would be the youngest pitcher in this century to hit the 300 mark.
Strider has an impressive career with a 13.6 strikeout over nine innings pitched (K/9), and he unleashed a new curveball this highly effective spring. In his 18 spring innings, he has improved his K/9 to 14.0.
“[The curveball] is just something I wish I had been throwing,” Strider said. “It just fits my strengths and the way I pitch, not only philosophically, but mechanically. I spent a lot of time working on it in the offseason, and it’s definitely more comfortable than I thought it would be this early.”
Strider’s ZIPS projection for 2024 is 234 Ks and a 13.2 K/9, which is excellent, but leaning on the conservative to the low side. The curveball will get him plus 14.0 K/9 on the season; he will see an increased workload and higher pitch count allowance, resulting in more innings pitched. He pitched 186 last season, and with 200 innings this year with a 14.0 SO9, we are looking at 326. In short, he will hit 300+ strikeouts in 2024.
Strider Will Win 20 Games
Number two of our bold predictions for Strider is he will lead the league in wins this year. With the Brave’s offensive firepower, each of Strider’s 32 starts will be his to lose; it’s hard to imagine he will lose more than 12 while increasing his strikeout rate.
Once again, his ZIPS projection is conservative to be nice but low at 15, but even at 15, he is projected to lead the league. It also projects his ERA at a higher than 2023 at 3.16. With 50 under his belt, the league has enough data on him to combat his tendencies and technique, but Strider is intelligent enough of a pitcher to overcome this.
With his new curveball, if Strider pulls down his ERA, increases his strikeouts while breaking the 300 mark and wins 20 games, he will easily be the NL Cy Young winner. Even with the low expectations of Fangraphs ZIPS, Strider is projected to win the Triple Crown.
Strider and the Braves Win World Series Game 1
On to the last of our bold predictions for the Braves ace, Strider will win his first World Series game in 2024. That’s a big one, but with the breaking allegations in Dodgers camp, the Braves should be the Spring favorite to win the NL, and Strider will be a crucial part of that.
Take note: in 2024, Spencer Strider will break 300 strikeouts and win the NL Cy Young and Triple Crown while leading the Braves to their 19th NL Pennant. This year, we will see the torch passing from Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, and Max Scherzer to Spencer Strider, who will be the top pitcher for the next decade.
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Braves once again release veteran infielder
According to the team’s official MLB.com transactions log, the Braves have released Charlie Culberson. Culberson rejoined the Braves on a minor league deal back in January and was attempting to transition to pitching after 17 pro seasons (including 11 in the majors) as a utilityman.
This doesn’t appear to be the end of the line for Culberson’s career, as he told Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he will continue seeking more playing opportunities. Culberson turns 35 next month, though he indicated in another interview with Toscano last month that he wasn’t yet leaning towards retirement.
Culberson has a .248/.294/.386 slash line over 1,312 career plate appearances, and he has played for five different teams at the MLB level since making his debut with the Giants in 2012. This includes 231 games over six different stints with the Braves since Culberson has signed four separate minor league contracts with Atlanta over the last year. The Braves twice designated Culberson for assignment, and he chose free agency rather than an outright assignment, though Culberson quickly rejoined the organization on a new contract.
The transactional shuffles were part of an odd year overall for Culberson, who played in only 27 games with Triple-A Gwinnett and in exactly one game at the major league level. Despite several months on the Braves ‘ active roster, Atlanta’s tendency to rarely rest its star players meant that Culberson simply didn’t have much opportunity to get playing time. This made 2023 a “tough” season for Culberson, as he told Toscano, and it partially inspired his decision to try pitching as a different way of providing value to a big league roster.
Culberson has made eight mop-up appearances (totaling 7 1/3 innings) as a pitcher over the years, in addition to his much lengthier resume at all four infield positions, as a left fielder, and a handful of games in right field. He has topped 100 plate appearances in only six of his 12 major league seasons, though Culberson did get 271 PA and 90 appearances as recently as 2021 when he played for a rebuilding Rangers team.
Over three spring training appearances this year, Culberson made three appearances on the mound and was charged with six earned runs over two innings of work. Obviously, there were going to be some bumps in the road for Culberson as he pursued his new position, and it remains to be seen if he’ll continue to experiment with a pitching career or if he might return to his familiar utility role if another team needs some position-player depth. While another contract with the Braves wouldn’t be a surprise if the Georgia native wants to stay close to home, Culberson’s desire to play seems to clash with Atlanta’s loaded roster.
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