Elder's consistency on display again, but shorthanded bullpen can't hold lead

ATLANTA -- Bryce Elder finished 2025 with a promising month, and he’s exiting this season’s first full month with one of MLB’s top 10 ERAs. It might be time to recognize that the 2023 All-Star has finally found the consistency he needed to become one of the Braves’ most valuable starting pitchers.

Unfortunately for Elder, he wasn’t able to give the Braves the additional inning they may have needed to deal with a short bullpen on Thursday afternoon at Truist Park. The bid for a three-game sweep disappeared as Joel Payamps was charged with a pair of eighth-inning runs in a 5-2 loss to the Tigers.

“[High-leverage options] can’t pitch every day,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “Those [lower-leverage options] have done the job for us at times. Today was a tough one.”

The Braves entered Thursday ranked third in the Majors with a 3.08 bullpen ERA. Their relief corps has been a big reason why they also entered this series finale with MLB’s best record. But consistently winning and consistently using top high-leverage bullpen options often go hand and hand.

So, successful teams occasionally find themselves short-handed for a day or two in the bullpen. Such was the case for the Braves in this loss.

Weiss entered Thursday afternoon’s game not wanting to use Dylan Lee, who threw 28 pitches on Wednesday night or Reynaldo López, whose 17-pitch effort on Wednesday was his first appearance since being moved to the bullpen. Didier Fuentes threw just 22 pitches on Tuesday, but the Braves understandably want to protect the 20-year-old prospect.

As for closer Raisel Iglesias, he is expected from the injured list when he becomes eligible to be activated on Tuesday.

So, in an effort to get the ball to closer Robert Suarez with a lead, Weiss rolled the dice by handing a one-run lead to Payamps, who surrendered a Kerry Carpenter triple and a Matt Vierling double to begin the eighth inning. Vierling scored the winning run via Gleyber Torres’s sacrifice fly against Aaron Bummer.

When the Braves were down a run in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s comeback win, Weiss opted to use Dylan Lee for 1 ⅓ innings. Lee’s scoreless effort set the stage for Matt Olson’s walk-off home run. But the multi-inning appearance also erased his potential availability on Thursday.

“There's going to be times where those guys need to take a day or two,” Weiss said. “You need to reset. You know, that's where we were today. Three of our guys were down for sure. So you take your best shot and see what happens.”

Though the eighth-inning troubles prevented a potential win, the Braves once again had reason to be happy with what they saw from Elder, who allowed just one run and six hits over six innings. The 26-year-old hurler ranks sixth among qualified MLB starters with a 1.88 ERA.

Elder had a 1.74 ERA through his first seven starts in 2023. He stands with Tom Glavine (2000 and 2002) as the only Braves to twice have a sub-2.00 ERA through seven starts during the 2000s.

Elder also ranks seventh in the Majors with the 2.36 ERA he’s constructed over 14 starts going back to Aug. 24.

“It's been a matter of inconsistency, and the consistency is there,” Weiss said. “He's putting together start after start after start and giving us a chance to win every time out.”