After another Spencer Strider blowup, is it time to worry about Atlanta’s rotation?

OK, “worry” is probably a bit strong. The Atlanta Braves have been the class of the Majors all year long: They were easily baseball’s first team to 90 wins, with among the best offenses in recent memory, and they just took three of four over their only real competition in the National League, the Dodgers, in convincing fashion last weekend. They’re presumptive World Series favorites, deservedly so, and it would be a shock to not see them waltz into the NLCS — at a minimum.

And yet. Atlanta suffered its second straight loss to the Cardinals on Wednesday night, which wouldn’t be cause for too much concern if the past couple of days hadn’t seemingly highlighted a crack in the Braves’ foundation as October nears. Atlanta gave up double-digit runs in both of those defeats, as first Michael Soroka — now ruled out for the remainder of the season with a forearm injury — and then erstwhile Cy Young contender Spencer Strider got rocked on their home field.

Strider gave up six runs in just 2.2 innings of work, the fourth time in his last 10 starts he’s allowed four or more runs. His recent inconsistency — marked by a tendency to catch too much of the plate too often, and for those mistakes to wind up over the fence — is a particularly problem for the Braves, because after him, their rotation gets surprisingly sketchy surprisingly quickly.

Yes, Max Fried looks more like his Cy Young candidate self with each start removed from his time on the IL. Behind him, though, are Charlie Morton — who went on a tear in August but reminded everyone of just how exasperating he can be with two runs on six hits and three walks over four innings against the Dodgers last weekend — and Bryce Elder, a rookie who’s pitched well but whose underlying metrics suggest some regression is coming (and who’s already blown well past his career innings high this year).

Atlanta looked to have other options waiting in the wings, but Yonny Chirinos went down with an elbow injury, Kyle Wright still isn’t back from the shoulder ailment that’s kept him out most of the year, Soroka is no longer an option and prospects like Allan Winans, Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd haven’t proved up for the task in limited opportunities. Again, at 90-48 and with an insurmountable lead in the NL East, any team in the league would kill to have these problems — and lord knows the Braves’ lineup is good enough to make up for a lot of ills. But that lineup is also bound come to back to Earth just a little bit come October, with fresh pitching staffs every other day and the competition level ratcheting up. And unless Atlanta can slug their way past everyone, they could look back and regret not doing more to add a starter at the trade deadline.