Bryce Elder shuts down critics with his best outing of the season

Atlanta fans have been vocal about their distaste for Elder. In his first three starts of the season, his ERA exploded to 7.20. Many questioned why Elder was still pitching at the Major League level.

“Malpractice continuing to [give] Bryce Elder innings in the Majors over AJ Smith-Shawver,” X user @LeslieMinesIII said.

“It gets to a point. There is no reason that Bryce Elder should be starting another game in a Braves uniform,” @luzthegoosey posted on X.

“Bryce Elder and Miles Mikolas currently in a battle of ‘how is this dude still in the Majors?’,” X user @Rematch727 said.

Elder shut down critics on Wednesday. After a rough first inning, he went on to spin 5.0 scoreless frames. He completed 6.0 innings for the second time this season and allowed five hits and three walks while notching two strikeouts.

“Obviously, we needed somebody to go out there, and I was glad I was able to eat some innings,” Elder said of his start.

Braves manager Brian Snitker also touched on the impact of Elder’s performance on the series-finale win.

“He regrouped and was really efficient to go through six,” Snitker said. “...That was huge.”

Since the beginning of last season, Elder has pitched 6.0 innings while allowing one or fewer earned runs in three of 14 starts at the Major League level.

With Elder’s strong performance on Wednesday, the Braves improved to 2-2 in his starts this season. While some fans may maintain doubts about Elder’s abilities for Atlanta, he had his best outing of the season on Wednesday to guide the Braves to a series win over the Cardinals.