After Spencer Strider's latest injury, Braves legend shares his biggest concern

The Atlanta Braves didn't have Spencer Strider for much of the entire season last year and now, just after one start in 2025, he is heading back to the bench. Strider returned to the majors in the game against the Toronto Blue Jays last week, where he pitched five innings, giving up two earned runs, one walk and five strikeouts.

Two days after his first start in almost a year, Strider was placed on the injured list with a straight right hamstring. Interestingly, it is not the same injury that Strider suffered last year. Strider could only start two games in 2024 because imaging revealed damage to the UCL in his right elbow

This became a point of discussion between Justin Verlander's brother Ben Verlander and Braves legend John Smoltz during the latter's appearance on "Flippin' Bats" podcast this week.

“My biggest concern in the game—we're seeing injuries that usually don't happen to certain positions,” Smoltz said (9:17 onwards). “And then we're seeing a ton of injuries happening to position players that don't make a lot of sense. So I go back and say the training mechanism, and the way that you go about training, is not necessarily specific to your position.

"And I'm not saying it's impossible to pull a hamstring, but it makes you wonder: how do you pull a hamstring? What have you been doing to train?"

Smoltz further highlighted that during recovery, the focus "can't just be about your elbow, even though that’s the concern you want repaired."

"I've seen guys get too big physically in the upper body because they obsessively work on it during the time they have nothing else to focus on," Smoltz said. "And I've seen guys take the opportunity to work on their whole body—the things you neglect during the regular season."

John Smoltz adds focus to unnecessary hyper-specialized, year-round conditioning amid Spencer Strider's injury

The shift towards hyper-specialized, year-round conditioning has players looking more athletic than ever. But that, John Smoltz warns, might also be the reason for such simple injuries like that of Spencer Strider. He looked back on his own injuries when he used to play.

“There’s a chain reaction,” Smoltz added. “All of my injuries, for the most part, started with a pulled groin and a hip issue that translated into a shoulder issue, which translated into an elbow issue.”

Overall, John Smoltz focused on a much larger issue that is resulting in injuries to modern-day pitchers. The rehab focus should be on the whole body rather than just the affected limb, as per the legendary pitcher.

As for the Braves, they'll hope Strider is not gone for the season again.