Atlanta Braves Give Rookie Pitcher Spencer Strider Record Extension

Even before collecting a possible World Series ring or Rookie of the Year trophy, Spencer Strider has reason to celebrate.

The 23-year-old flame-thrower has inked a six-year, $75 million contract extension extension with the Atlanta Braves that carries a $22 million club option for 2029.

The deal was a surprise, as it was announced on eve of the team’s National League Division Series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.

With an annual average of $12.5 million, Strider’s contract is the largest ever given to a rookie pitcher. It also is the sixth multi-year deal given to young players by the team, following pacts signed by Ronald Acuña, Jr., Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Michael Harris II.

Drafted off the Clemson campus by the Braves in 2020, Strider rocketed from the minors to the varsity rotation in less than two years.

He began 2022 in the Atlanta bullpen, working 11 times before joining the rotation at the end of May. He pitched well in 20 starts before going on the shelf in mid-September with an oblique injury.

Strider averaged 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings – best in the big leagues – while posting an 11-5 record, 2.67 earned run average, and 202 strikeouts in 131 2/3 innings.

He fanned a club-record 16 Rockies in an eight-inning stint against Colorado on Sept. 1 without walking a single batter.

A control artist who kept the ball in the park, he averaged 3.1 walks and 0.5 home runs per nine innings.

“My goal is to always out-perform any expectations,” said the modest rookie at the news conference announcing his signing. The event was attended by Alex Anthopoulos, president of baseball operations for the Braves, who negotiated terms with Frontline, the agency that represented Strider.

The 6-0, 195-pound pitcher is virtually certain to finish first or second in NL Rookie of the Year balloting, which is also hotly contested by Harris, who joined the Braves on May 28 and immediately tightened the team’s outfield defense.

Strider’s new deal pays him $1 million in each of the next two seasons, $4 million in 2015, $20 million in 2006, and $22 million in 2027 and 2028.

The 2029 option has a $5 million buyout already factored into the guaranteed portion of the contract. If it is exercised, Strider could earn $92 million over seven years and be eligible for free agency at age 31.

The pact erases Strider’s final two pre-arbitration seasons, three arbritration-eligible years, and what would have been his first two seasons of free agency, if the option is exercised.

It is the largest contract given to a pitcher with such limited experience since Madison Bumgarner got a five-year, $35 million deal from the San Francisco Giants more than 10 years ago.

Popular with Truist Park fans who have taken to wear fake mustaches to mimic the pitcher’s real one, Strider is a vegan who wears a gold medalion shaped like a peace sign.

Atlanta fans hope to see him during the best-of-five National League Division Series that opens against Philadelphia in Truist Park Tuesday but Strider’s status in uncertain following an Injured List stint that started Sept. 21 when he strained an oblique muscle. Strider went 4-0 against the Phillies this season.

Strider is the fourth young Braves star to be extended this season, joining Riley (ten years, $212 million), Olson (eight years, $168 million), and Harris (eight years, $72 million). Coupled with Acuña and Albies, the Braves have signed six players who will be under club control through the 2027 season or beyond.

They hope to add shortstop Dansby Swanson, a potential free agent this fall, and star pitcher Max Fried, who will start the first game of the Division Series.

Should the Braves sign both, their total payroll would vault over $200 million and probably exceed the luxury tax threshold for the first time.

The team will have $76 million on the books six years from now – without the next round of arbitration, raises, or signings.

No other club has such long-range salary commitments but the Braves have raised more than enough revenue to meet their payroll through record attendance at Truist Park and the success of team-owned businesses at The Battery, an adjaent shopping-and-entertainment plaza.

The team’s ability to win five straight NL East crowns and last deep into October also helps fill the coffers. The Braves are now seeking to become the first National League team to win consecutive world championships since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds.