Bad luck comes in bunches for Elder, lineup's heavy hitters

PHOENIX -- Bryce Elder said it best after keeping his ERA at 0.00 and committing the throwing error that doomed the Braves in a 2-1 loss to the D-backs on Saturday afternoon at Chase Field.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever contributed as much and cost the team as I did right there,” Elder said. “I’d like to have that one back.”

Elder recorded eight strikeouts and allowed just four hits while not allowing an earned run over seven innings. Three of those hits occurred in the second inning. The most costly was a bunt that came off Jose Fernandez’s bat at 24.6 mph.

Elder fielded Fernandez’s bunt near the third-base line and then made an errant throw that allowed two runners to score, including Nolan Arenado from first base. By the time Ronald Acuña Jr. got to the ball along the right-field line, Arenado had rounded third base.

Unfortunately for the Braves, this costly error was committed on a day when their offense tallied four hits and went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Here are some thoughts on the facts and figures for Elder and the tough first week Acuña, Austin Riley and Michael Harris II have experienced.

8: This is the number of MLB-leading quality starts Elder has completed over the nine starts he has made going back to Aug. 24. Max Fried, Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were the only other pitchers who entered Saturday with seven such starts since that date.

“I think my stuff is better than it was last year,” Elder said. “It feels good, and I'm going to keep it going.”

.161: It’s far more effective to judge a player’s offensive production by using OPS, rather than batting average. But it would have been ugly had I highlighted this entry with Acuña’s .161 batting average or the .502 OPS he has through 39 plate appearances. He has one double, two stolen bases and two unsuccessful ABS challenges in three tries.

His [swing] looks a little late,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “We’ve seen all of them go through some ruts before. But, you know, when he gets rolling, it's going to be fun to watch.”

.497: Riley’s swing seemed to be in the right spot during the latter portion of Spring Training. Then, he reached base safely four times in the season opener against the Royals. But the third baseman’s bid to rebound from two injury-marred seasons has gotten off to a rough start. He has gone 3-for-29 since Opening Day and he’s hitting .188 (6-for-32) with a .497 OPS. He is 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Riley struck out twice against his longtime friend Michael Soroka on Saturday. The second strikeout came after Matt Olson had doubled with two outs in the third. Soroka, Riley and Acuña all began their professional careers together within the Braves’ organization in 2015.

“He's pressing,” Braves hitting coach Tim Hyers said. “He's trying to create and you can see where it starts to expand [the strike zone] when you start to try to get those big hits. I'm sure he's putting a lot of pressure on himself. But he’s working hard and grinding and he’ll come out of this.”

.593: Harris’ stats might not look pretty. But don’t let the .593 OPS he’s produced through 36 plate appearances fool you. He truly has been victimized by bad luck. Each of the three balls he put in play on Saturday qualified as hard-hit (95 mph or higher exit velocity). But he was just 1-for-3. He entered the day hitting .226 with a .355 slugging percentage. Based on the quality of contact, his expected BA was .322 and his expected SLG was .682.

“I think he's settling in and making better decisions at the plate that I think will definitely help him out in the long run,” Hyers said.