The Braves announced today that right-hander Bryce Elder has been recalled while left-hander Max Fried has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a strained left hamstring. Fried’s move is backdated to April 1.
Coming into the spring, Atlanta’s planned rotation has four spots taken by Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Kyle Wright. The final spot was left open for a spring battle, with the frontrunners considered to be Michael Soroka, Ian Anderson and Elder. Soroka got hurt in the spring while the other two hurlers struggled. Elder tossed 11 2/3 innings over three starts with a 6.17 ERA, striking out nine opponents while allowing five walks and 11 hits, including three home runs. Both he and Anderson were optioned in the middle of March, with rookies Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd out-pitching them and jumping them on the depth chart.
Wright also dealt with an injury in camp and eventually landed on the injured list to start the year, allowing both Shuster and Dodd to get big league opportunities alongside Fried, Strider and Morton. Fried then had to depart his Opening Day start with this hamstring issue, with manager Brian Snitker recently confirming that Fried would indeed be placed on the injured list, which is now official. It doesn’t sound like the club is expecting a significant absence, but he’ll miss at least a couple of weeks to rest up.
Shuster’s first start didn’t go especially well, as he allowed four runs in the first inning against the Nationals on Sunday. He eventually settled down and got through 4 2/3 innings but was optioned yesterday when Dodd was added to the roster.
It had been reported recently that Elder and Anderson were in contention to rejoin the rotation in Fried’s absence and Elder will get at least the first nod. Though he had a rough spring, he had an encouraging debut last year, posting a 3.17 ERA over 54 innings. His strikeout and walk rates were each a bit below average but he got ground balls at a healthy 49.3% clip.
With Wright and Fried on the IL and Shuster optioned, the club’s rotation currently consists of Strider, Morton, Dodd and Elder. The club’s next off-day isn’t until April 13, over a week away, so they will likely need to make another rotation move in the coming days or else have a bullpen day. Anderson started in Triple-A on Sunday but didn’t make it out of the first inning, allowing six runs, four earned. He tossed 37 pitches while walking two and allowing four hits, including three home runs. Soroka recently spoke about how the plan for him is to start for Gwinnett tonight but said he’ll likely be limited to three or four innings while continuing to build up from his interrupted spring. Shuster was just optioned yesterday and can’t be recalled for 15 days from that point unless another player is placed on the injured list. Wright’s 15-day IL placement was retroactive to March 27, meaning he can’t return until April 11 at the earliest.
Interesting sequence of events. Thought Dodd would get recalled after the game today and Elder brought up in his place to start Wednesday. Then Shuster brought back when Max was eventually put on the IL. Now that leaves Ian Anderson, on full rest, to start Friday…..or a bullpen game.
Dodd has already been placed on the active roster. He pitches tonight in St. Louis and Elder will pitch tomorrow. I’d rather the Braves start Chavez on Friday over Anderson. Anderson couldn’t get out of the first inning earlier this week in Gwinnett as he once again got rocked. He doesn’t need to see the rotation until he can pitch effectively again.
They would have avoided the debacle on friday by bringing up shuster to pitch friday..on his normal rest and placed fried on the IL. Now your running two these two pitchers out against the cards roster…could turn into 3 straight bullpen games.
Morton didn’t have his best stuff last night but it was the Braves offense that carried them to their third win of the season. Until the Braves rotation becomes more stable the offense will have to carry this team.
They didn’t play on Friday.
I mean, the rotation hasnt been bad? Yea shuster gave up 4 runs but in the first inning of his 1st mlb start. he settled in after that. fried, strider and dodd all pitched well, and morton can definitely do better but overall it hasnt been bad, besides its a team sport, takes all 9 guys plus the pitching staff. Braves are still 4-1
Well, I guess my assessment of three years ago that Anderson was overrated prospect turned out to be true
Everyone called me “idiot”, “dumb” then, too. Try to figure out how to project things, people. Maybe then once I can have an intelligent conversation here
Oh yeah, you’re part of the group that was like so in awe of Anderson as a rookie
Wasn’t a good prospect, as I said . I literally said he’d be out of the league in three years
@Camden; So you predicted that he’d have a shoulder injury that he’s been unable to effectively recover from? Btw, plenty of Braves fans believed that Anderson was living on borrowed time because he didn’t have an effective 3rd pitch. Main problem w/him is that he’s lost command of his fb that tunneled so well w/his changeup because of the shoulder problem.
No I predicted that he would lose young velo/stuff, get lit up, high HR/9, and be out of the league in three years. I said the same thing about Matt Harvey when he was at AAA. It’s easy to project
There is NO way Anderson will ever be his 2020/21 self so you can logically put that wishful thinking away
Yeah, he ‘lost command’, ie he lost young life and velo and now he nibbles and afraid to throw strikes
It’s not because of his shoulder, believe me
Cden453 to the IL with a shoulder injury from patting himself on the back.
You’re still an idiot. He hurt his shoulder. You didn’t call squat.
Just trade Ozuna for Ohtani. Problem solved!
That’s forr Shohei’s little brother, Noshohei.
Hope the Cardinals respect their Elder.
Pretty fair trade
Snowflake Fried going to the IL for a minor leg sore. What a joke the game has become. Grown man has a muscle sore he’s got to go to the IL for a month
The joke is you. Hamstring injuries especially can get worse if you try to play through instead of resting. It is not worth risking a major injury.
Hes a sad mets fan trying to cope.
As a Mets fan myself, this dude’s comment seems especially rich when Justin Verlander is currently on the IL for a “low grade muscle strain”, ie a minor shoulder sore. I guess Verlander is a “snowflake”, too?
You’ve got to be kidding me. He took some warm up tosses and was totally fine. There was absolutely no problem with his leg
You’ve got to try harder or cope harder……pick
@Camden: He took ONE warm up pitch and walked off the mound. Each of the trainer, manager, and Fried knew he was injured. Get your facts straight if you’re going to pretend you have some sort of special insight. Btw—the IL for pitchers is 15 days, not “a month.”
Yeah right. Give me a break. Nolan Ryan pitched with a broken arm. Players these days go to the IL for any minor boo-boo…a total joke it’s become
A weak mentality spreads misery and weakness. There are many more injuries now because of the weak mentality that has infiltrated the sport
Ian is definitely not ready to come up. Heck he might need to go pitch in Augusta. Looks like a bullpen game on Friday to me. Skyrider is right on.
Now watch Elder immediately pitch his way into the Cy Young award race. He’s already had one complete game shutout, albeit against the Marlins.
Yeah that’s never gonna happen. If you think Bryce Elder will somehow magically contend for the Cy Young, you have no idea what’s going on
I should have slapped a /s at the end for the more obtuse posters.
In all actuality how many people expected
Spencer Strider’s breakout? The same Spencer Strider that was drafted with scouting reports predicting a 40 future value (ie, depth piece).
prospectslive.com/scoutingreports/spencer-strider
Your presumptiveness is showing.
Uhh no, because you can take one look at Strider and you see potential Cy Young. This is before he even pitched an inning in the league
Elder is not going to be that
You have to understand, the so-called “evaluators” that you post links to themselves have no idea what they’re doing
He definitely qualifies as obtuse. Among other things.
dankyank,
Camden453 has pitching evaluation down to a science, and he’s the only one. That’s why he works for an MLB team and has eliminated all of that team’s pitching injuries.
Obtuse!! That can get you thirty days solitary in Shawshank for that!
I don’t want to work in baseball. I have better things to do, much more profound challenges to work on
Yes, I could easily build any baseball team into a powerhouse for decades, but it’s too easy
The whole industry is full of the objectively ignorant. Sitting there looking at “data” when it’s obvious what the player will be from watching an at bat
Takes me literally less than a minute to project and assess a prospect with almost 100% accuracy
Can’t even think of a time I was wrong about a prospect. I’ve been consistently accurate about almost every draft prospect for the last 15 years
dankyank, your comment from yesterday looks pretty good today. What a great game pitched by Elder today to go along with Dodd’s from Tuesday. Braves pitching is doing well and that offense is on fire here in the early going.
Thank you, I appreciate the compliment. The Braves had a historically good 2020 draft. All of Dodd, Shuster, Strider and Elder look ready to stick in the majors. Elder has been praised repeatedly for having the highest floor of the four. He could be quite the diamond in the rough.
Mets 5-7 of Peterson-Megill-Bundy is much better than Shuster-Elder-Dodd
1-3 of Verlander-Scherzer-Senga is better than Fried-Strider-Wright, too
If it helps you sleep better at night, then sure.
Well, when you simply look at things logically and fundamentally, and not magically, you never have a problem sleeping, nor are you confused about things
Logic is a stranger to you.
Wrong twice, and you can Put It in the Books.
Right now, I’ll take my chances with the Braves rotation and that Braves offense. Mets have been shut out in consecutive games and 40 year old Scherzer got rocked.
Well I know it’s early but even with the starting rotation taking some early injury hits the Braves are in first place. Everything is going to be fine.
Yeah first place, after 4 games, with 3 of them against the worst team in the league
They weren’t playing Philly (only winless team in MLB).
Yeah because the Phillies are worse than the Nationals because of 4 games ..you can’t make this stuff up
Yeah, because 4 games already determines “the worst team in the league”. It’s a new year, but same ole Mets.
Youre right..It will all even out. Dodd/Schuster gaining valuable MLB exp.
How long ‘til Wright’s arm cracks up? It’s already happening. That leaves Atlanta with a rotation of Fried-Strider-Morton-Shuster-Elder
No significant pitching prospects on the horizon…it is not looking good for Atlanta. Especially if age finally catches up with Morton
Now that’s funny. A Mets fan talking about “if age finally catches up” to a pitcher at the back of the Braves rotation. You should worry more about the two Senior Citizens at the top of the Mets rotation.
Should be worried about Carlos Carrasco being the healthiest of the top-4. You should be begging to put him on the IL after that first start.
Yeah but it’s just the first start…yeah Carrasco is aging, probably done. I’m not expecting much out of Carrasco this year.
But, it’s only the first start. It’s April. He’ll get better with regular work
Cookie looked awful yesterday and most concerning was that his velocity was dropping as the game went on. Upper 80s on the fastball towards the end of his start.
But Verlander and Scherzer are lower injury risk. Wright is high injury risk. You can see that from the physical mechanics
The problems he’s having now, are not surprising. He put a lot into last season. There’s only so far you can keep going with the type of mechanics, physical makeup he has
“But Verlander and Scherzer are lower injury risk.”
Verlander is literally injured right now. Also, he only has 29 starts since 2019. On top of that, Scherzer missed a good chunk of time last year (only 23 starts).
@Camden, Wright’s physical makeup? The kid is 6’4″ 215. He’s bigger than Scherzer. A constant in your comments seems to b you spot off random guesses as facts….
I’d love to hear your take on his mechanics as well. Since based off your comments you know more than the professionals paid to assess big league talent. Other than you know when you are making blind assumptions and are just flat out wrong….
Well, his mechanics are miserably atrocious. There’s not much life in his body, certainly nowhere near great talents like Scherzer and Verlander
Do you even know what talent is and how to spot it?
It was a miracle he had the season he had last year to begin with (I was shocked), and to expect his body to be ok after that is based on fantasy thinking
The only reasonable conclusion after his season last year is that a la Mark Fidyrich he put everything he had into that one season, which means he’ll likely never produce again
He was a first round pick out of Vanderbilt, which traditionally produces MLB talent. And he pitches very similar to Verlander using his large opposed to over exerting his arm. You are doubling down on your lack of knowledge here I see….
I know you’re an uninformed and extremely biased Mutts fan, but Dylan Dodd is starting tonight for the Braves vs the Cards. Try to keep up. Hilarious to see you whine about “age catching up” for Morton. Let’s hear you defend the Mutts creaky old gang of injured and ineffective bums. Corrasco’s a wreck, Quintana might not pitch at all this season, and Verlander couldn’t even stay healthy long enough to see Opening Day. Have to wonder if poor old Scherzer’s arm is still burnt after his collapse at the end of the last season. Hope you enjoyed that shellacking the Brewers put on your sorry Mutts yesterday. You should expect a lot of that this season. Try not to let the losing get you down……….
You’ve got to be kidding me. Scherzer and Verlander are both world class, hall of fame talents
Morton is nowhere near that level. At some point, Morton reaches the end
Verlander looks like he’s got more juice still than most top pitching prospects
Sure you could argue Scherzer is aging, and he has, but theres no sign at all that the stuff, velo, etc doesn’t still play
If it did, I would say so, like I did with deGrom (who is done)
Snowflake Camden has me muted.
Wear it like a badge of honor. We should create an award system for being muted by posters. The more obnoxious the greater the reward. Who would be worth the metal of honor, do you think?
Me, too. He muted me when he was going nuts last year and saying that Travis Jankowski was the next coming of Rickey Henderson.
Camden could be correct. Wright having to take a cortisone shot right before Spring Training is rather alarming and the Cardinals pounded the ionized salt out of Morton last night.
If I were a Braves fan I would prepare myself, based on logic, for the fact that you’re not going to get much starts out of Wright anymore
I said the same thing about deGrom. There’s no hopeful thinking. deGrom just doesn’t have the same arm strength anymore
As for Morton, I didn’t see him last night, but the 4-5 starters get lit up early because they haven’t pitched in 10 days
Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, Morton…These back end rotation guys are coming out of spring training and the midseason velo/stuff isnt there yet
To worry about starts in early April is ridiculous
But there’s a major difference between Wright and deGrom…ATL is deeper than to rely that much on Wright. Yes, it would be a hit if he went down for an extended period/all year, but he’s possibly the least impressive 20-game winner in quite some time — and I’m a Braves fan. More of a product of a good defense, great offense and luck than anything. Considering his modest earnings compared to deGrom (when on NYM), I wouldn’t worry too much about Wright.
No it isn’t. Wright was nasty last year. Unhittable. It was legit greatness. I was shocked he was able to do it
But is it sustainable? No way. He can’t do that again. There bound to be arm problems
You gotta understand any decent pitcher could probably put up a great season if he puts everything he has into that one season
It’s like how I took one look at Bryce Montes de Oca this spring and pretty much wrote him off as injury. Two weeks later he’s done for the season, probably two
@Camden453 — you’re the only one that would describe Wright as “legit greatness”.
Speaking of legit greatness – Scherzer pitching batting practice and ATL taking another courtesy of former Met, Steven Matz.
I Know nothing about Bryce Elder…he one of Katies sons?
Her sons were John; Tom; Matt and Bud
George Kennedy was feeling that thwack across the face from Duke with that stick for years after.
@DC He hit him so hard he landed in idaho!!
Haha!! John Wayne had some classic jaw jacking moments. Love that 42yd field goal of Strother Martin’s chin in the “Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”.
This is what happens when you’re cheap and don’t sign a SP in the offseason.
who would you have signed?
In the way-too-early look at FA SP signings – through 1 start – Zach Eflin (of course, TB), Kodai Senga, while Andrew Heaney has his first GS tonight (vs. BAL).
Alarming at how many are already missing time. That’s like driving a new car off the lot and hearing the engine rattle.
We have depth. AAAA Roster in Gwinnett. It takes more than the 25 and 40 man roster to get it done in a season. Get Max to 100% before you run him back out there. Elder and company step up and produce. Braves will be fine.
Sure. Morton who makes adjustments and is our 4th or 5th starter —went 5.1 with nothing—none of his pitches were working against a good line up. Yeah our 4th/5th starter is pretty dam good. Oh yeah and fried who was 2nd last year in the Cy race tweaked his hammey and the Braves are always cautious—letting him take 15 days to make sure it’s okay. Yeah Wright will be here in a few days—the 3rd starter who won 21 last year. He is fine. Oh yeah Elder oh my god our 5th ‘spot’ starter in the rotation till Soroka who will be back in about 3 weeks. Soon Fried, Strider, Wright, Morton, and Soroka—-oh no. The Braves are screwed and everyone is gonna do so much better.
I would have thought Camden453 was a orioles fan with that handle.e
Nah, he’s definitely a “Seventh Heaven” fan, where his favorite (besides Happy, the dog) is Rev. Eric Camden until he find out what actor Stephen Collins was accused of doing.
Stayed in the minors till he ran out of options?
No, he clearly can’t recognize when a team has a good thing going.