Strider struck out five and gave up two hits and one walk over four innings in Wednesday's Grapefruit League start against the Rays.
Making his third start of the spring, Strider built up to 61 pitches (43 strikes) and delivered his best performance to date. He induced nine swinging strikes -- including five with his slider -- and retired eight of 12 batters via either strikeout or groundout, with another out coming on a pickoff. Perhaps more importantly, the velocity gains Strider noticed in his previous start last Thursday carried over into Wednesday's outing. He peaked at 96.5 miles per hour with his four-seam fastball and averaged 94.8 mph overall, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com.