Braves and Bryce Elder look to bounce back again after terrible injury crisis within the squad
The past is in the past and now it’s time to focus on what Bryce Elder can do here in the present.
Following a disappointing split against the Marlins and a day off on Monday, the Atlanta Braves are back in action tonight as they get set to face the Milwaukee Brewers for the second time in as many weeks — this time here in Cobb County.
The Braves finally got some good news on the injury front today, as Michael Harris II has been sent to Triple-A on a rehab assignment and should be back pretty soon. The bad news is that Reynaldo López has gone on the IL due to his forearm ailment and won’t be back until later this month. That means that Bryce Elder is back and he’s starting tonight.
To say that Elder has been on a rollercoaster ride this season would be an understatement. He’s definitely had his fair share of good starts — including his last appearance where he got into the seventh inning against these very same Brewers and ended up with just one walk and one run allowed and seven strikeouts in a game that the Braves won 5-1. He’s also had a few starts this season that were genuinely mortifying to watch.
With all of that being said, he’s been decent more often than he’s been terrible this season and while it may be a tiny bit concerning that he’ll be seeing this Brewers offense once again and they may be more familiar with him this time around, I will be honest with y’all and admit that I’ve given up trying to figure out how Bryce Elder starts are going to go on any given day. If it goes well, fantastic! If not, there’s a new game tomorrow. Eat at Arby’s.
Speaking of rematches, the Braves are going to get another shot at facing Colin Rea. The last time Atlanta saw him was back on July 29, which is when Rea had a very solid start where he only gave up three hits and two runs. Those two runs were both solo homers from Marcell Ozuna and Orlando Arcia, respectively. Ultimately it ended up being all for naught as Milwaukee feasted on Atlanta’s bullpen on their way to an 8-3 win
Rea has been on a solid run recently, as he’s given up two runs or less in each of his past three appearances — and I say “appearances” because his stint against the Nationals came in a game where he was piggybacking off of an opener who took on the first inning. Things went well for Rea in that game but also that was immediately after he had a bit of a stinker against the Pirates where he gave up seven runs over 5 innings. Rea isn’t infallible by any means but the Braves are going to have to figure out a way to succeed where they stumbled against Rea not too long ago.
