Today's Three Things: Bryce Elder Gets Shelled as Braves Swept by Rangers
The Atlanta Braves have faired terribly against West division teams this season, going 11-29
The Atlanta Braves got shelled by the Texas Rangers 8-1 in Globe Life Field on Sunday afternoon, cementing a Rangers sweep in the series.
Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
The bottom of the first inning.
It’s never been Bryce Elder’s cleanest - he has a career 5.32 ERA in the first inning of the game, his highest for any inning (minimum 50 pitched) - but today was egregiously bad.
Elder walked three of the first four batters of the game, loading the bases for outfielder Wyatt Langford. The Florida product then got a sinker that was supposed to be backdoored, but instead drifted over the plate, and launched it to the left-center gap. It split Michael Harris and Jurickson Profar, emptying the bases for a double and Texas never looked back.
Atlanta had an opportunity to get back in the game the very next inning - both Drake Baldwin and Austin Riley walked to open the frame, but Atlanta could only manage to bring one in. Sean Murphy flared a ball into no man’s land in shallow left field, one that bounced off the turf and into the stands for a ground rule RBI double.
After that, however, Ozzie Albies popped out and Nick Allen flew out to end the threat and strand runners on 2nd and 3rd. For the game, Atlanta went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six baserunners.
Today’s Player of the Game
After Elder got shelled (more on that in just a minute), the lefty Dodd entered and stabilized things with three scoreless innings. He allowed only two hits, both weak contact singles (77.8 mph and 84.8 mph), and walked none while striking out four.
After not working out as a starter, Dodd’s move to the pen has proven to be fruitful. Dodd’s mid-80s cutter has become his most-used pitch, backed up with a fastball and a low-80s slider. While I wish he had a bit more dynamic of a breaking ball, it’s a profile that works well with the cutter serving as the bridge pitch to set up the other two pitches.
Honorable mention goes to Hunter Stratton. Acquired by Atlanta in a minor trade after being DFA’d by the Pirates, he’s now pitched twice this weekend and allowed only a few base hits (all weak contact) while not letting a run come across to score. While he’s not a high-leverage arm, he’s a potential piece for the bullpen going forward with multiple years of control and a full complement of minor league options.
What You’ll Be Talking About
The continued collapse of Bryce Elder.
An All-Star in 2023 on the strength of a strong first half, he’s been almost unplayable more often than not since that appearance in the Midsummer Classic.
Elder went just 2.2 innings today, recording only eight outs while giving up six hits and four walks. He struck out three of the nineteen batters he faced, allowing more earned runs (eight) than he recorded whiffs (six).
He got all six of those whiffs on his slider, which induced ten swings in twenty-one pitches because it just wasn’t reliably thrown for a strike. Because he wasn’t able to establish the sinker in the zone early, Rangers hitters were attempting to lay off the slider and force him to come into the zone with his secondaries to get back in counts.
It’s now been two full seasons, from post-All Star Game in 2023 to now, that Bryce Elder’s not looked the part of even a backend starter. He has an ERA over six in that span, occasionally flashing promise but more often than not getting shelled and leaving Atlanta in a losing position.
While it’s not the biggest concern right now, I legitimately question whether or not he’ll be in Atlanta’s plans after this year or if he’s destined for either a bullpen role as a long man or to be an offseason trade piece in a “our junk for your junk” challenge trade.
Looking for more discussion about this game?
Here’s this afternoon’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the loss.
What’s Next for the Braves?
Atlanta’s flying to Kansas City to take on the Royals in Kauffman Stadium for three. Here’s the pitching matchups for the series:
Monday: Spencer Strider (4-8, 3.72) vs Rich Hill (0-1, 1.80)
Tuesday: TBA (but we expect this to be Hurston Waldrep, making his 2025 debut) vs Seth Lugo (7-5, 2.95)
Wednesday: Joey Wentz (2-2, 5.76) vs TBA