Are opponents 'picking up on something' after another tough Strider start?

NEW YORK -- Spencer Strider certainly wasn’t feeling good after allowing career-high-tying totals in runs (eight) and home runs (three) in a 13-5 loss to the Mets on Tuesday night at Citi Field. But his thoughts about this ugly four-inning outing were far more optimistic than expected.

“I mean, losing and not pitching well is always tough,” Strider said. “I thought a lot of things were really good tonight. I thought my stuff was really good. The velo was good. I felt great. I felt I really commanded the ball well. I was all around the zone. Mixed it up really well. I tried to keep them off-balance, and they were as comfortable as I've seen a lineup against me. It's two in a row where I just wasn't able to make guys uncomfortable.”

Does this mean the Mets and Brewers -- who tallied 11 hits, the most ever surrendered by Strider, over 4 2/3 innings last Wednesday -- knew what was coming?

“They might be picking up on something,” Strider said. “I mean, sequencing or … I don't know. Obviously my stuff's not exactly the same as it has been in years past. I think the last two starts, it's actually been a lot better, especially tonight. I still feel like I'm making mistakes in counts where you can't make mistakes.”

Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez’s go-ahead homer in the second inning came against a 1-1, center-cut fastball that was just located poorly. Pete Alonso began his two-homer night by drilling a first-pitch, center-cut fastball over the right-center-field wall in the third.

This was Alonso’s 253rd career homer, moving him past Darryl Strawberry for the franchise record. The Mets first baseman’s historic shot came against another poorly located pitch.

As for Brandon Nimmo’s three-run homer that gave the Mets an 8-5 lead in the fourth, it was hit against a 1-2 slider that stayed in the zone, instead of becoming a swing-and-miss pitch.

“It still feels like if a pitch isn't perfect, it's getting hit,” Strider said. “And that's, you know, I think the ownership is to say, ‘Well, I've got to be better,’ number one. Then, number two, the stuff isn't good enough. I think if you're executing at a high rate and you're getting hit hard -- like I said, guys are looking as comfortable as they ever have in my last two starts -- then something's got to get better. Whatever you're doing isn't good enough.”

Strider’s four-seam fastball touched 98 mph and averaged 96.1 mph on Tuesday night. That’s the second-highest average he has produced this year, trailing only the 96.2 mph he produced on June 14 against the Rockies and during last week’s rough start against the Brewers.

Something that really stuck out on Tuesday was the fact the Mets whiffed with just seven of 43 swings. The only other time an opponent had fewer whiffs during a Strider start occurred on July 28, when the Royals whiffed just five times in 48 swings.

Given what the Royals, Brewers and Mets have done within these past three starts, there is reason for Strider to determine if he’s tipping his pitches in any way.

Nothing has gone Strider’s way going back to Aug. 2, when his desire to pitch in his home state of Tennessee was erased when a lengthy rain delay forced him to be scratched from his scheduled start in the MLB Speedway Classic against the Reds. He warmed up and was ready to pitch when heavy rains delayed the game’s start for more than two hours.

Strider posted a 2.91 ERA in the nine starts he had made leading up to the Speedway Classic. His two rough starts might be a product of being a creature of habit whose routine was altered. Or he could just be going through the same inconsistencies that 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara is experiencing during his first season back from major elbow surgery.

“You’re going to go through the peaks and valleys and rough times in trying to get through a year,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I’ve had these guys before and this is what they go through. They need to fight like they did when they were fighting to get back to this point. I think the biggest thing for [Strider] is to finish the year and have a normal offseason.”