Spring Training Has Arrived
Atlanta Braves Spring Training games start this coming Saturday when the Braves face the Boston Red Sox in North Port at CoolToday Park at 1:05 Eastern.
At this point in time I don’t know who will start for the Braves on the mound in Game One, but there’s no question which starting pitcher I’m most interested in watching over the course of the entire Spring Training…Bryce Elder.
The 23-year old Texan has more than enough ability to win the rotation’s 5-spot out of Spring Training (ST23).
I’d go as far as saying he has enough RIGHT NOW to be the 4-man if Kyle Wright regresses back to his mean. I don’t think or hope Kyle will regress, but the possibility remains.
Elder’s biggest competitors are Mike Soroka coming off an ineffective Achilles repair that triggered a lengthy recovery & a highly-motivated Ian Anderson who’s shown he can be one of the best back-end starters in baseball plus and a dominant postseason pitcher.
Bryce fell victim to his own free passes in 2022 in his early-season MLB starts, if he can get those under control, watch out.
I very well may be the biggest believer in Bryce outside of his family, so my judgment may be clouded here, but I’m going on the record saying Bryce is by far the most talented pitcher we have in contention for the 5-spot going into ST23.
I love Soroka & Ian, but I’m just that bullish on Elder.