


Spencer Strider really didn’t want to come out of Saturday’s game.
The Atlanta ace animatedly pleaded his case to remain in the NLDS opener, but he was rebuffed by manager Brian Snitker and removed after seven innings in the Braves’ 3-0 home loss to the Phillies.
The 24-year-old Strider, who threw 94 pitches, was shown on TV getting into a heated discussion with pitching coach Rick Kranitz in the dugout before his removal.
“I was just having a personal conversation with him,” Strider said after the game. “Unfortunately for me, sometimes my conversations are on camera, and I’m guilty of showing emotion when I speak at times. So yeah, I mean, just having a conversation with Kranny. Some of it wasn’t even about baseball.”
Strider, MLB’s leader in wins (20) and strikeouts (281) in the regular season, had allowed two runs (one earned) through seven innings.
But Snitker replaced him with lefty A.J. Minter, who loaded the bases and allowed the Phillies’ third run of the game on a controversial catcher’s interference call.
“He told me he wanted to stay — he does every time I go through it,” Snitker said of Strider. “‘How many starts did you make this year?’ Every time he comes out of the game, most of the time, he’s yelling at me that he wants to stay. And he said, ‘I’m good, I’m good.’
“He did his job. He did a great job. And there wasn’t any reason to continue to push him. … The adrenaline gets going. These guys are competitors. I wouldn’t expect him just to come in a game like that and want to come out of the game.”