Bryce Elder
Breakdown
Performance
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March 3, 2026
Impressive against Detroit
Elder gave up three hits over three scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Tigers. He struck out one without walking a batter.
Analysis
The right-hander tossed 24 of 41 pitches for strikes before turning the ball over to Joey Wentz, who also blanked Detroit over three innings. Elder and Wentz are nominally battling for Atlanta's fifth starter job, but a busy early-season schedule will likely mean the competition extends past Opening Day as the team runs with a six-man rotation for the first couple weeks. Elder has allowed one run through five innings over his first two spring appearances with a 4:0 K:BB.
February 26, 2026
Maintaining velo increase
Elder averaged 93.3 mph with his four-seam fastball during his spring debut Wednesday, maintaining the velocity gains he flashed at the end of last season, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
Analysis
The 26-year-old right-hander gave up one run on two hits over two innings against the Pirates in Grapefruit League action Wednesday, striking out three without walking a batter. Elder closed out 2025 in impressive fashion, posting a 2.82 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 41:8 K:BB over his final seven starts and 44.2 innings, and more giddy-up on his fastball factored into that success. "He was popping a lot of 95s late in the season last year," manager Walt Weiss said. Elder averaged 92.8 mph overall on his four-seamer last season, but that number jumped to 93.7 mph during that seven-start stretch. He attributed the increase to work with biomechanics expert Bob Keyes, whose list of prior clients includes Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. Elder isn't expecting to rise to that level, but if he can come close to repeating his performance over the last month-plus of 2025, he should be able to lock down a rotation spot with Atlanta.
