Braves need this version of Bryce Elder in the worst way

Elder‘s final line – five innings, two earned runs, six strikeouts, four hits and two walks.

“Bryce stepped up big, I thought,” manager Brian Snitker said. “He came out great – command, stuff was really good, live. Kind of had everything working.”

He retired the first eight batters in order, including strikeouts of the Cooperstown-bound trio of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in the top of the first inning.

His effectiveness enabled Austin Riley’s pair of two-run homers to stand up and got the Braves into the top of the sixth with a 4-1 lead. (He left the game with two on and none out, with reliever Pierce Johnson allowing one inherited runner to score.)

In his past three starts, including Sunday, he has gone 17 innings with a 3.18 ERA with a WHIP of 1.235. Compare that to his first three starts – 15 innings, 7.20 ERA, 1.533 WHIP. Or to his 10 starts last year – 49 2/3 innings, 6.52 ERA, 1.631 WHIP.

“There’s going to be ups and downs,” Elder told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I think in the past, I didn’t handle those downs very well and I think I’m handling them better this year.”

The Braves, now 15-18, direly need him to be dependable.

If the starting rotation isn’t a mess, let’s just say it’s a bit untidy. Chris Sale has a 4.84 ERA in seven starts after winning the National League Cy Young Award last year. Expected to build on his standout rookie season, Spencer Schwellenbach has stumbled over his past four starts.

Reynaldo López, an All-Star a year ago, is out for at least another eight weeks with a right shoulder injury. Spencer Strider made one start this season in his return from season-ending elbow surgery before straining his hamstring. A.J. Smith-Shawver has yet to harness his talent.

Going into Sunday night’s game, the Braves’ starting pitching was 26th in the majors in ERA at 4.54.

At present, the team’s best-performing starters are Elder, who spent most of last year and started this year with Triple-A Gwinnett, and Grant Holmes, who last year made his MLB debut after 10 seasons in the minors.

Not the ideal for a team that has played better since its 0-7 start but still has the 12th-best record in the NL.

I asked Snitker what it would mean if Elder could continue pitching like this.

“That would be awesome,” he said. “That would be great.”

The Braves know what Elder can be at his best. In 2023, his age-24 season and his first full year in the majors, he was an All-Star. But he tailed off even that year, with a 2.97 ERA in the first half of the season and 5.11 in the second.

An Elder start has often felt like threading a needle. Without an overpowering fastball, Elder relies on his slider and sinker to get groundball outs. In 2023, for example, among the 58 pitchers who threw at least 150 innings, he was 53rd in strikeouts per nine innings (6.6), according to Stathead.

But he was 17th in batting average on balls in play (BABIP), .275. However, with his command faltering since his dominant start in 2023, he had little else to rely on. Last year, in 10 starts with the Braves, he actually upped his strikeout numbers to 8.3 per nine innings, but his BABIP was .366.

I covered a spring-training start of his in March in which he gave up five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings including back-to-back home runs. Afterwards, Snitker was at a loss to find positives.

“It’s just not happening for him right now,” he said.

After starting the year in Gwinnett, Elder was called up when López went on the injured list. He did nothing to inspire faith in his first three starts.

But, he said Sunday, he felt his command and his timing on the mound were improving.

“Obviously, we’ve still got a long way to go, but I think the past three have been better,” he said.

Elder said that experience has taught him how to handle difficulty both within a game and between starts.

“Everybody can suggest stuff and it’s very helpful, but when you go through it yourself and you learn, ‘Oh, I did this and it resulted in this – I’m probably not going to do that again,’” Elder said. “I think more than anything, (it’s) just having the experience of sucking and learning to battle through it and figure out how to be better.”

It’s a valuable lesson for anyone at any time.

So long as Elder continues to heed it, the timing could not be better for the Braves.