00:00Look, we still get to say it, Braves remain the only team that have yet to lose a series after
00:04their 6-3 win over the Marlins last night.
00:07Bryce Elder pitched five and two-thirds scoreless innings, did have four hits, struck out seven, walked two.
00:12Let's hear from Bryce after the game on how last year's struggles are fueling 2026.
00:17You know, the first couple of years being here, it felt like, you know, every day you roll up to
00:21the field, you're just going to win.
00:22And then last year, it didn't feel like that at all.
00:25And so I think this year, there's a good kind of, you know, obviously, I'm sure there'll be a bad
00:30stretch.
00:32But it's a very, you know, simple feel.
00:34Everybody shows up, gets their work done, and goes and handles their business.
00:38If we don't get the big hit or, you know, we don't get the shutdown inning, it's kind of whatever,
00:41we just roll on.
00:42So I really like where we're at.
00:44And I think last year kind of struggled and kind of gave people peace of mind and kind of made
00:49them realize, like, hey, we've got to go win games.
00:51We're not just going to roll out of bed and beat people.
00:53So I really like where we're at.
00:54I thought Bryce Elder's stuff last night, like the actual movement on his pitches, in particular his slider, because I
01:02think he probably, I don't know, like nine or ten swing and misses on the slider.
01:06I thought his actual movement on the slider looked about as lethal as I've seen when he's throwing the baseball.
01:11Like, he's always going to be a pitcher that relies on location and dancing around the zone, but the slider
01:17last night looked like a swing and Mitch pitch, which I, we just haven't seen a ton of him in
01:23his career, even through the all-star half.
01:25That's the way I felt about his start against Arizona, maybe two starts ago.
01:33Remember, he lost 2-1, he makes a throw-in error.
01:36And he made the error.
01:39He gave up no earned runs.
01:40His stuff was nasty that night.
01:42Same stuff you're talking about.
01:43Swing and miss stuff.
01:45And he just made an error where, and there was a fielding error by him, but it was one that
01:52was made.
01:53And then last night, you got the solid defense.
01:57He's just, that's who he, you know, he's a 5-7 inning guy when he's got his best stuff that's
02:04going to give up 3-5 hits, going to pitch out of trouble, because every once in a while he'll
02:10put a guy on with a walk.
02:12But that's who he is.
02:14And like last night, you know, he actually struck out 7, which is, to what you're saying, means he had
02:21his best stuff.
02:22Because he's not a, it's like Greg Maddux said when he goes, yeah, but I mean, that's like my swing
02:29and miss page.
02:30You're like, oh, is that who you are now?
02:32You're a swing and miss guy?
02:34That's why you're with me.
02:35That's why you came to talk to me, to figure out, you know, how to be better at these things.
02:39And it's great.
02:41Greg Maddux, and it's been a two-year thing.
02:43It didn't happen over this offseason.
02:44It happened in the 20, leading into the, it was in the 24, leading into the 25 offseason, right?
02:51Yeah.
02:51So, but it's, it's the best thing in the world.
02:54He's, for him, and he's giving you, like, if you could ever get everybody back, Allie,
03:01he's giving you what you want from a fifth, like, fifth starter.
03:05He's a dream fifth starter.
03:07Is he erasing that gut feeling when you see Bryce Elder is starting?
03:11It used to be like, ugh.
03:14Is it a little bit more like, okay, cool?
03:17I don't think, for most people, I don't think he's there yet.
03:21For me, I've never been the hatred of the guy.
03:24I just know that he struggled.
03:25I've always thought that he could be a fifth starter.
03:31Like, that's what he is.
03:32I did lose some faith in him.
03:35But if you go back, like, last season, but if you go back to his, like, August of last year,
03:39it started clicking.
03:41Yeah.
03:41But I think for some, I think for most, they're probably still one foot out the door with him.
03:46No, I think, I think what she's saying is fair because I think y'all are kind of saying the
03:49same thing.
03:50I do look at him.
03:51I think every fifth starter in the league, you go, hmm.
03:54You don't, like, there's a reason they're the fifth starter, right?
03:56And there's a reason that they're looked at that way, and there's a reason that they land at that spot
03:59in the rotation.
04:00I think I'll probably always feel that way about Bryce Elder.
04:03I don't think there's going to be any taking that away because, like we just said, if he's not locating
04:07the slider down like it was last night
04:09and getting the spin rate or whatever else was going on with his, you know, pitches last night and, like
04:14Bo said, a couple weeks ago,
04:15then I'm always going to feel that way because he has to rely on that.
04:18It's not the 100-mile-an-hour fastball with the, you know, 79-mile-an-hour change.
04:23It's not that nasty.
04:24So I'm always going to be, but I also have a great handle on what Bryce Elder is.
04:28He's this year's, like, Charlie Morton.
04:30He is a glue guy for the pitching staff.
04:33He's a whatever, look, run down the label, innings eater, like, whatever, journeyman, whatever you want to call him.
04:39Whatever you want to call him, that's what he is, and I think that that is a very good thing
04:44because, to me, he is the floor of the starting rotation, but it doesn't mean he ain't bringing the floor
04:49way, way up when he's pitching well.
04:51What I want to ask Grant, and I guess I'm telling y'all this so I don't, maybe y'all
04:54remember,
04:55is if he was a 90s Brave, who would Bryce Elder be?
04:59Like, who on one of those 90s pitching staffs that was, like, a back end of the rotation guy?
05:04Mike Stanton?
05:06No, but Stanton was more of a reliever, I think, more than any of that.
05:09Steve Avery?
05:10I was thinking Kent Merker.
05:12Okay.
05:13But maybe Merker had maybe some more swing and miss stuff.
05:15I don't know.
05:16I can't remember exactly what Kent Merker's stuff was.
05:20Yeah.
05:20Like, you know, maybe, I don't think he was ever Denny, is it Denny Nagel?
05:28Denny Nagel.
05:28I think Nagel had better stuff than that, but I don't know.
05:31So I want to ask Grant, like, hey, if Bryce Elder was a 90s Brave, what 90s Brave would
05:35he be and why?
05:37Would he be Greg Maddux?
05:38No.
05:39Hell no.
05:40Well, I mean.
05:41There's stuff, well.
05:42Stuff-wise, they're not that far off.
05:44And Bryce, remember, Bryce added the cutter or two seamer, whatever it was, this year.
05:49He just didn't throw it much last night against the lefties.
05:52I just wonder what, because he's got to be a back-of-the-rotation guy that had more of
05:58an off-speed guy, because that's what he is.
06:00Yeah.
06:01He just doesn't bring, I mean, I think he might hit 95 if he's lucky.
06:05Like, if Bryce Elder ever hits 97 on the gun, I'm scared.
06:09Oh, God.
06:10It would be like Henry Rowan Gardner.
06:12Like, yeah, I don't need that at all.
06:13Like, that's going to go away at some point.
06:15Well, if you are fiending for some baseball today, because the Braves do have the day
06:20off, Spencer Strider is going to join Sean Murphy in Rome to begin his rehab stint.
06:25That is a great facility if you haven't been there.
06:27And it's a great way to see some superstars tonight.
06:29Have you been to Rome?
06:31Yeah, okay.
06:31Just playing that song in my head with you singing that.
06:35No, man, it's a good sign.
06:37Like we've talked about, there's going to be some roster math coming up.
06:40You know, the whole Martin Perez saga with the probable pitchers going on tonight, I think
06:44that's been, it's roster math at this point.
06:47So you're going to have some decisions to make, no doubt.
06:49Yeah, the Perez thing worked out for him, didn't it?
06:51Because they sent him down, and then, you know, nobody claims him.
06:55Right.
06:56And he gets signed a money deal, and I think he will probably be.
06:59And that was their thing, and I thought Grant did a good job, if you didn't hear me.
07:02I think he was on with the afternoons, and he was like, they were like, well, why did
07:09he have a good game?
07:09And he gets DFA'd, and they're like, well, you know, there's not a lot what you can do with
07:14him.
07:14Suarez can pitch every third day, if needed, like Jose Suarez, I believe.
07:21And then, but with Perez, he's every fifth day.
07:26So if he clears it, he'll probably be back for this weekend, and you'll throw him out
07:30there.
07:30And he did good his last outing.
07:31You hope he'll be in another one, especially if you're going to play Philly, and that's
07:35an offense that can be there.
07:38But the good thing is, is the Braves could get swept and still be in a tie for first
07:45place at the end of this series.
07:47That's a great way to look at it.
07:48Because they're three and a half up on Philly right now.
07:50I don't know if Philly plays tonight, but they do.
07:51It's only half a game.
07:52Well, they will play Friday, because Braves are heading to Philly.
07:56Martin Perez will start that night.
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