The Atlanta Braves made an anticipated move Tuesday when they placed Max Fried to the 15-day IL today. Fried was injured in a fourth inning of the season-opener in Washington with left hamstring tightness. While placing Fried on the IL, the Braves also recalled Bryce Elder from AAA Gwinnett to take Fried’s spot in the rotation and make his first 2023 start in St. Louis tomorrow.
My hope is that Elder will show up in St. Louis and be that annoying little brother, poking and prodding, annoying the life out of the Cardinals by hitting his spots and nibbling on the corners while also missing a bat every now and then.
Fried has become a bully, dominating his way through MLB lineups with five pitches that are equally effective. He is one of the top five starters in the National League and will be in contention for the Cy Young when he returns to dominance in a couple of weeks.
Nobody expects Elder to be a bully, the Braves just need him to grind and not stop being annoying even when he gets smacked around a little bit by the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. And when Elder has been successful, that is what he has done.
The 24-year-old Texan has a career record of 2-4 with a 3.17 ERA in 10 games, nine of which came in starts last season at the big-league level. Elder threw 54 innings with 47 Ks, 0.9 WAR and 1.241 WHIP. His first start at Gwinnett this season saw him work 6 innings of five hit ball. He gave up four runs and struck out four, allowing one home run in a no-decision.
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