DENVER — Spencer Strider’s 2026 debut was a rocky one.
The Braves’ powerful right-hander was pulled after 3 1/3 innings and 87 pitches Sunday afternoon at Coors Field against the Rockies, a game the Braves would eventually win 11-6 to sweep a three-game series.
Strider, who had missed the first month-plus of the season because of an oblique strain, was charged with three earned runs. He walked five and allowed four hits while striking out six.
“I’d rather be pitching than hurt, for sure, but I don’t want a participation trophy,” Strider said. “I’m here to help the team win games. I’m getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to do it. If I can’t, then that’s a problem.”
The fastball command and high velocity was MIA in Strider’s first outing of ’26. Instead, he relied heavily on the breaking ball by throwing a career-high 27 curveballs along with 14 sliders. The Rockies (14-21) swung 17 times at those off-speed pitches and made contact exactly once.
When asked if he found the fastball hard to command Sunday, Strider said, “Yeah.”
He then explained his heavy dosage of curveballs.
“You’re throwing what you can land,” Strider added. “But if you can’t challenge guys in the strike zone then you can’t be very effective, hard to get ahead.”
Catcher Jonah Heim at least provided a little more context.
“I kind of noticed it in the pen, it (the curveball) was his best breaking pitch,” Heim said. “We know going into the game plan going in that curveballs were kind of better to some of these guys. I feel like I tried to mix in some sliders and some curveballs, but when push comes to shove, we needed a strike, we were gonna go to the pitch that was working the best.
“I thought he threw the ball well though. There’s a couple errant pitches, but that’s to be expected here. It’s tough to pitch here, but I thought he did a really good job.”
Strider’s five walks matched a career-high which had been previously set June 4, 2022 (also at Coors Field). Strider’s next turn in the rotation will come later this week in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.
On Sunday, on Strider’s first pitch of the 2026 season, the righty slipped on the follow-through which made for a bad omen. That first pitch was part of a lead-off walk to Edouard Julien.
Julien stole second during a strikeout of Hunter Goodman, then scored on TJ Rumfield’s soft single into right field. After another walk, this one to Troy Johnston, Strider froze Willi Castro on an 83-mph slider right down Broadway.
Strider threw 27 pitches in his first MLB inning of 2026.
Strider made quick work of Brett Sullivan in the second inning, striking out the Rockies’ catcher on a curveball. But then Ezequiel Tovar lined a fastball into right for a single and Jake McCarthy walked on four straight pitches.
After a strikeout of Julien, Strider walked Mickey Moniak to load the bases. Goodman swung at a 3-1 fastball and hit a lazy fly ball to right to end the threat.
In the third, Rumfield took a 93-mph fastball on a 2-1 count and crushed it into the stands in right for a solo home run. Strider walked Sullivan on four pitches with two outs later in the inning but got a ground ball to third to end the frame.
Strider grooved a 2-2 fastball down the middle of the plate that Jake McCarthy sent to the gap in left-center for a lead-off triple in the fourth. After a strikeout of Julien, Braves manager Walt Weiss made the slow walk from the visitor’s dugout to the mound to relieve Strider of his duties.
Reliever Aaron Bummer (1-1), who was the winning pitcher, came in and served up a two-run homer to Moniak, with one of those two runs charged to Strider.
“Gonna have to find a way to be more effective than I was today,” Strider said. “Like I said, stuff was good, it was just leaving the zone. I feel good about that adjustment going into my next start. Got a lot of work to do and want to contribute to what has been a very good season so far.”
The Braves (25-10) had given Strider a 3-1 lead in the second thanks to a 425-foot Heim two-run homer, his first of the season, and a 407-foot Jorge Mateo long ball on the next pitch. It was the first back-to-back homers for the Braves since April 3 at Arizona.
Down 4-3 in the fifth, the Braves loaded the bases with one out against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland (1-3). Austin Riley scorched a ground ball that nailed the bag at third and popped straight up into the air for an RBI single. Eli White walked, by challenging a called third strike that was overturned for ball four, giving the Braves a 5-4 lead.
Antonio Senzatela came on to replace Freeland, and Heim lifted an RBI sacrifice off him to make it 6-4.
Bummer gave up two singles and a sacrifice bunt to begin the fifth. Didier Fuentes was called upon out of the Braves’ bullpen, and Tovar hit a sacrifice fly to center to get the Rockies within 6-5.
An Ozzie Albies RBI single to right and Matt Olson double to the gap in left, both coming with two outs, gave the Braves an 8-5 lead in the sixth.
Moniak’s second homer of the day, and 11th of the season, came with two outs in the eighth making it 8-6. It was Moniak’s sixth career multi-homer game and fourth of 2026.
Heim provided the Braves some much-needed insurance with a two-out, two-run double off the wall in right. Mateo plated Heim by dropping a pop fly onto the grass in shallow right field providing the final margin.
Heim’s five RBIs were his most in a game since Sept. 11, 2023.
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