The Atlanta Braves don't have a lot of questions as they prepare for full squad workouts at their spring training facility in North Port, FL on Monday.
But other than the bench roles needing to be decided, the most watched position battle is for the final spot in the rotation behind veterans Spencer Strider, Max Fried, Charlie Morton, and Chris Sale.
And for Bryce Elder, who was an All-Star last season, competing for that job is just "how it is."
"I think you see it day in, day out with some of the best players in the world,” Elder said to Justin Toscano of the AJC. “There’s nothing guaranteed in this game, so you got to go out every day and make it happen."
Elder made it happen last season...for a while. After being the Opening Day starter for AAA Gwinnett, Elder was called up on April 4th to reinforce a rotation that had just lost Max Fried to a hamstring strain and would go on to see the combo of Kyle Wright and Fried, who combined for 60 starts and 365.1 innings in 2022, make just 21 starts and cover 108.2 innings last season.
And Elder started hotter than anyone expected - the sinkerballer from Texas was the league's ERA leader through the end of May, putting up a 1.92, and earned his first career All-Star berth with a 2.97 ERA by midseason.
But the warning signs were already on the wall - Elder's ERA ticked up in the month of June, with those five starts seeing him throw to a 3.56 ERA and allow 5 homers, his most for a single month of the season up to that point.
And indeed, facing the longest season of his life, Elder struggled with fatigue in the back half of the schedule. The righthander had a 5.11 ERA after the All-Star Break, with nine homers allowed in 68.2 innings (compared to only 10 in 106 first-half innings.)
Elder admitted that the fatigue was real, adding that "the season is really, really long. You always hear how long it is. And 32 starts is a lot, and I think this year I’ll be much more prepared for it.”
Manager Brian Snitker agreed, explaining at the Winter Meetings that "I guarantee you his preparation this winter will be different than it was the winters before, because he knows what he's in for (now)." Snitker reiterated this confidence in elder at spring training, commenting "You have to experience it to figure out what it is, and he did, and you look back, what a great year he had. Big games. And made an All-Star team. He should just build on that coming into camp."
But despite building up to it - Elder's stated the focus of his preparation has been to be ready to "make 32 good starts and give the team a chance to win every time I go out," it's not a guarantee that Elder gets the Opening Day roster spot.
Braves officials and media have made a point to point out that free-agent signing Reynaldo López is stretching out this spring to start, although most of his career success has come in a relief role. He's reportedly at 25-30 pitches as he continues to lengthen out his bullpen sessions early in spring training.
Additionally, Atlanta has several other starting options in camp, several who saw major league time last season. Top prospect AJ Smith-Shawver is in camp, as are depth starters Allan Winans, Darius Vines, and Dylan Dodd. Huascar Ynoa is returning without restriction from Tommy John surgery, and our #1 prospect, Hurston Waldrep, is a non-roster invitee to spring training.
But outside of López, Elder's the favorite fo the spot owing to his combination of major league success and workload - he pitched 180.2 regular season innings last season. While he admits it was a "really, really long season", it's also valuable length for a rotation that's dealing with two older starters in 40 year-old Charlie Morton and 34 year-old Chris Sale, who pitched only 102.2 innings last season as he dealt with a shoulder issue that sidelined him for two months.
Either way, Elder's going to make starts for the Atlanta Braves, barring injury. The question is when do they start, and how good are they?
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