NORTH PORT, Fla. --  Tyler Matzek isn’t completely back to being himself yet. But he’s back, and that’s all that matters as he aims to regain the dominance he displayed before missing last year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. 

Matzek successfully passed another hurdle on Monday, when he made his spring debut against the Orioles. His one-inning stint marked the first time he pitched against opponents since his injury-riddled 2022 season concluded with the revelation he would miss all of '23. 

“My body is recovering well, honestly, better than I was expecting,” Matzek said. “I feel really good. I’m happy with it right now.”

That’s really all Braves manager Brian Snitker wanted to hear after watching Matzek pitch a scoreless inning against the Orioles. His velocity was 91-95 miles per hour, and the hit he allowed was a triple that a leaping Jarred Kelenic prevented from clearing the outfield wall.

But this was just the beginning for Matzek, one of the Braves’ top relievers during the 2020 and ’21 seasons. 

“You want him to feel good about it and be right,” Snitker said. “It’s going to take him a while to build up. As long as he stays healthy and can make each [Spring Training] appearance, I think everything else will take care of itself. Right now, everything looks really good.”

There’s a chance the Braves will give Matzek a chance to make a few April appearances with Triple-A Gwinnett before putting him on Atlanta’s roster. But the veteran left-hander is going to make more appearances than normal Spring Training. Matzek believes this will give him and the team a chance to know if he would indeed be ready for a regular relief role at the start of the regular season.

“If I continue down this path where I’m bouncing back real well, doing my back-to-back appearances and my three-out-of-fours, there will be no need to slow down the process,” Matzek said. “Starting on the IL was more of an, ‘If I need to,’ which right now, it doesn’t look like it. But if I need to, it’s more important to take two weeks at the start of the season than to take two weeks in the middle of the season because something is flaring up.”

Regardless of whether Matzek is ready for Opening Day, Atlanta is confident he will be an asset within what should be one of the game’s top bullpens.

Spencer Strider is doing more than just toying with a curveball. The pitch has proven to be quite a weapon during both of his first two Grapefruit League starts. The Braves right-hander struck out five over three scoreless innings against the Twins on Thursday. Three of these strikeouts were registered with the curveball and the other two concluded with his slider, which already stood as one of the game’s most effective breaking balls.

“[The curveball] is just something I wish I had been throwing,” Strider said. “It just fits my strengths and the way I pitch, not only philosophically, but mechanically. I spent a lot of time working on it in the offseason, and it’s definitely more comfortable than I thought it would be this early.”

Strider has established himself as the game’s top strikeout artist over the past two seasons, and now he is adding to his arsenal. The curveball will be just another weapon for Strider, who induced an MLB-high 306 whiffs against sliders (includes slurves and sweepers) last year. Dylan Cease ranked second with 269 and no other pitcher had more than 204.

Strider has fanned nine of the 19 batters he has faced through his first two spring starts. But the curveball won’t be just a swing-and-miss pitch. He used his new breaking ball to induce a double play to end Thursday’s outing against the Twins.

Strider reminded us just how good he is. Chris Sale showed us how good he can still be with his impressive spring debut against the Pirates on Tuesday.

I spent the past week thinking Forrest Wall would be on the Opening Day roster projection that was published on Thursday around 12:40 p.m. ET. But I made some last-minute adjustments and ended up not including him. All he did was hit a pair of homers within the next hour during Thursday afternoon’s split-squad game against the Rays. 

When you look at my projection, you’ll also notice I didn’t include Matzek. But that could certainly change when my next projection is published in a couple of weeks.

The AJC’s Justin Toscano was quick to remind me about last year, when I spent the winter saying there was no way Vaughn Grissom would be the starting shortstop. My first couple of Opening Day projections called for Orlando Arcia to be in that role. Then after a mid-March conversation, I decided I was fighting an uphill battle. So, I relented just about the time the Braves were pulling the plug on the Grissom-at-shortstop experiment. 

So, save these predictions and throw them back in my face whenever you can.

Snitker was thrilled to give J.J. Niekro a chance to pitch in Monday’s game against the Orioles. Niekro’s uncle Phil spent the majority of his Hall of Fame career with the Braves. J.J.’s father Joe also spent a couple of seasons with Atlanta. 

When Snitker was a Minor League catcher for the Braves in the late 1970s, he spent some Spring Training days accepting the unenviable task of catching Phil Niekro’s knuckleball. The legendary hurler and Snitker developed a strong friendship over the decades that followed and remained in regular contact until Phil passed away in 2020.

J.J. Niekro joined the Braves as an undrafted free agent in 2021. The 26-year-old hurler battled a sore right shoulder as he posted a 4.89 ERA over 31 appearances (seven starts) for High-A Rome last season.

To subscribe to Braves Beat, visit this page and mark "Braves Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Braves or that they're checked as your favorite team.

 View Online