Atlanta Braves' SP Spencer Strider is changing his jersey number from No. 65 to No. 99, per David O'Brien. O'Brien revealed the underlying reason for Strider's number change.
“#Braves' Spencer Strider switched from No. 65 to No. 99. Nothing to do with his average fastball velo — ‘That was 98.2, so it wouldn’t be accurate' — but does definitely draw inspiration from Ricky ‘Wild Thing' Vaughn from the movie Major League, who wore 99,” O'Brien wrote on Twitter.
It should be noted that Cleveland Guardians RP James Karinchak, who also features a blazing fastball and sports the No. 99 on his jersey, has already taken on the “Wild Thing” persona in a sense. He also benefits from the fact that he plays in Cleveland, which is of course the team that Vaughn is on in the movie Major League. Nevertheless, Spencer Strider is apparently using Vaughn as motivation as well.
Strider is fresh off the heels of a tremendous rookie season. He finished the year with a superb 2.67 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. Strider added 202 strikeouts for the Braves. But he did tend to lose command of the strike zone at times, which certainly plays into the “Wild Thing” narrative. He ended up losing out on the NL Rookie of the Year award to teammate Michael Harris. Regardless, the young right-hander still played a crucial role for Atlanta.
The Braves previously signed Spencer Strider to a 6-year, $75 million contract extension. They believe he's a pitcher capable of impacting Atlanta's rotation for a long time.
Spencer Strider will aim for another impressive campaign for the Braves in 2023 while rocking a new jersey number.