Spencer Strider unleashed his new curveball in spring training and it had fans feeling so sorry for MLB hitters

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Spencer Strider is just a few years into his MLB career, and he’s already one of the elite strikeout pitchers in the game. He’s done much of his work with only two pitches — an electric fastball and slider — along with a changeup he threw 7 percent of the time last season.

He’s the kind of pitcher who could have a long, successful career just from those two pitches. He doesn’t need a curveball. But what if he did have a curveball?

Strider set out this offseason to develop another pitch to make life that much tougher on opposing hitters. And he reported to spring camp ready to test out his curveball on big-league hitting. It didn’t take long to realize that his curveball is more than ready.

Spencer Strider with his new curveball for the strikeout pic.twitter.com/Qr9Dzn2BMp

— Gaurav (@gvedak) February 29, 2024

Pitching in a Grapefruit League matchup against the Twins on Thursday, Strider struck out five batters in his first three innings of work (allowing two hits, no runs and a walk).

But that curveball … just wow.

A look at Spencer Strider's new CB pic.twitter.com/FlNxcem0In

— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) February 29, 2024

There is no Statcast data for this spring training game (at least not posted), so I can’t tell you much about the spin rate or break. But I do have eyes, and I can say that Strider’s curveball is nasty. It’s almost unfair that hitters now have to account for that along with a triple-digit fastball and a great slider.

Fans were justifiably feeling sorry for big-league hitters.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Spencer Strider unleashed his new curveball in spring training and it had fans feeling so sorry for MLB hitters