PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Elder has allowed five earned runs or more in three of his past seven starts. But he has also allowed two earned runs or less in each of the other four starts during this same span.
In other words, Elder is still riding that roller coaster that he boarded after coming out of nowhere to earn an All-Star selection in 2023.
Ten days after allowing eight runs in 4 2/3 innings against the White Sox, Elder quieted a Philadelphia offense that torched Atlanta for 19 runs on Thursday night. But his second straight strong start wasn’t enough as the Braves suffered a 2-1 loss to the Phillies on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
“I think there for a while, I was having one good one and then one real bad, then one good and another bad one,” Elder said. “So to be able to kind of piece it together and get two good ones against two pretty good teams feels good.”
How good was Elder while limiting the Phillies to one run and three hits over seven innings? Kyle Schwarber, who hit four homers on Thursday, was 0-for-2 with a walk against the Braves right-hander. The All-Star slugger didn’t even hit a ball out of the infield until he singled against Dylan Lee in the eighth. This hit helped position him to score on Alec Bohm’s game-winning sacrifice fly off Pierce Johnson.
“He’s been throwing the ball really well; I mean, really well,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Elder. “It's great to see. He’s had some struggles. But, man, just the efficiency and the sinker had been really good. His slider, everything.”
How good was Elder’s sinker feeling? Well, it accounted for 57 percent of his pitches during Friday’s 96-pitch effort. That stands as the fourth-highest percentage from any of his 73 career starts.
Like many other sinker pitchers, Elder enjoys starting on regular rest as much as possible. Each of his past three starts have been made without any extra rest. The results weren’t there against the White Sox, who tagged him for eight runs on nine hits on Aug. 19.
But Elder limited the Mets to two runs over six innings five days later and then extended his success against the Phillies.
“I feel good [pitching] every five days,” Elder said. “My stuff seems to be sharper. I think even the White Sox outing, I gave up a lot of runs, but I thought my stuff was fairly crisp,”
Elder has spent the past few years battling to cement his spot within Atlanta’s rotation. The 26-year-old hurler began the 2023 season as Triple-A Gwinnett’s Opening Day starter and was named one of Atlanta’s eight All-Stars a few months later. His journey has remained unpredictable over the past couple years.
Elder made just 10 big league starts in 2024 and he has already had two brief stints at the Triple-A level this year. But with Atlanta’s rotation decimated by injuries, Elder has been a mainstay in since the start of June.
This season’s final month will give him an opportunity to prove to himself and the team that he still has the potential to be a consistent asset in the future.
“If you’ve got a game to play, you can do something good for yourself in this business,” Snitker said.
Looking ahead to the 2026 season, Chris Sale, Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach are the essential locks for the rotation. Hurston Waldrep has strengthened his candidacy during his first full month as a big leaguer. There are health-related questions about Grant Holmes and Reynaldo López, who has said he’d rather be a starter than a reliever.
And then there’s the all-important depth pieces like Joey Wentz and Elder, both of whom will spend the season’s final month trying to provide an impression that will influence any rotation-related decision the Braves make this winter.