What would it be like to finish with a back-to-back strikeout in your first pitch after almost a year away from the game with a 98mph fastball?

"I had a rare feeling of pure joy on the court after the first game, rather than the usual anger," Spencer Strider, a right-handed pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, admitted after Monday's spring training game. In the Grapefruit League game, which was lost 2-1 to the Boston Red Sox, the 25-year-old fireball man who completed ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction surgery returned with a dominant performance of 2.2 innings, 8 hits, 6 strikeouts (including consecutive 5K), no hits and no guaranteed hits.

Chris Sale, winner of the 2023 National League Young Award, was unsparing in his praise: "Let's face it, he's still the team's best pitcher. Searle, who won the pitching treble last season with 18 wins, a 2.38 defense rate and 225 strikeouts, is a lot of weight.

Strider responds humorously: "I know Searle likes to talk nonsense, and we have to put up with that every day. But the numbers don't lie: In 2022-23, Stride led the major leagues with 483 strikeouts, four more than second-place Gerrit Cole, and shot 91.1 fewer innings. When he underwent "internal stent surgery" to repair UCL in April last year, the medical community was skeptical that it would be able to regain its peak. Now, he used 27 goals (23 good goals) to solve the performance of eight hitters to shatter doubts - only seven goals in the first game, three consecutive strikeouts against Vaughn Grissom and Roman Anthony; A 97mph speedball in the second game was swung by Romy Gonzalez; If it weren't for the coaching staff's early change of pitch for protection, a full game might have been brewing.

"Ball speed is the last thing I think about," Stred said of his recovery plans, "and while the spring training stats are just for reference, it did feel good today. Despite their hot form, the Warriors cautiously scheduled their official return in late April: "You have to stay calm and you can't rush it. It's a marathon and we need to be at our best in the most critical moments. "

When Stryde returns, the Warriors will form a terror front shift of Serre + Reynoldo López + Spencer Schwellenbach, and the fifth start will be contested by AJ Smith-Shawver, Ian Anderson and others.

The only "blemish" in the comeback show came in the third inning: Stride walked straight to the lounge after taking his second out, suddenly realizing that the game wasn't over yet. "I haven't played for so long that I can't even count the number of outs," he laughed at himself, "after all, I didn't major in math in college, and it was too hard for me to count to three." With the resurgence of speedball pressure and dry humor, the Warriors' October journey has added another weight.