Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishCC Sabathia on entering the Hall of Fame and wearing a Yankees cap on his plaqueCC Sabathia will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame this July and tells USA TODAY Sports why his plaque will feature him wearing a Yankees cap.Sports SeriouslySpencer Strider, the Atlanta Braves fireballer just 369 days removed from undergoing his second Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery, was back on a major league mound – and making strikeout history once again.Strider became the fastest starting pitcher to 500 career strikeouts Wednesday when he punched out Addison Barger in the fifth inning, and pitched into the sixth, showing much of the arsenal that made him one of the game’s most dynamic performers on the mound before his right elbow failed him again.His first start of 2025 ended when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the sixth with his first home run of the year, followed by a walk to Anthony Santander. Still, his 97 pitches thrown represented a massive victory given the last time he left a mound with his elbow cooked, just more than a year ago.That came in his second start of 2024, and on April 13 he underwent a second ligament replacement along with the insertion of an internal brace. Ever curious of mind and diligent in his work, Strider was throwing bullpen sessions early in spring training, and had reached 90 pitches in a rehab start for Class AAA Gwinnett.Wednesday, it was time to take the mound for real, at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.The results were mixed but largely positive: Strider’s fastball topped out at 97.9 mph in the first inning and hovered in the 95 mph range thereafter. It dipped to 94 mph in the third, when he gave up consecutive hits to Bo Bichette and Guerrero, whose RBI double gave Toronto a 1-0 lead. He needed 27 pitches to complete the third, putting him at 60 overall.But Strider, 26, found a second wind. He retired eight in a row in pitching clean fourth and fifth innings, and his strikeout of Barger came in just his 335th career inning, setting a new standard. And perhaps Atlanta manager Brian Snitker got a little greedy sending him out for the sixth.Guerrero won a seven-pitch battle, sending a spinning full-count slider over the wall in left and after Santander walked, Strider was lifted.Still, it was a significant step forward for a pitcher who struck out a major league-high 281 batters in 2023, when he won 20 games. He led the majors with 483 strikeouts between 2022 and ’23. The huge strikeout numbers weren’t totally there on Wednesday, though a punchout an inning against just one walk will play. As his season unfolds, Strider’s stuff should tick upward.For now, serving notice that he’s nearing return to the dominant pitcher he was will have to do.The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
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