In Defense of the Braves Leaving Bryce Elder in to Pitch Eighth Inning

The Atlanta Braves took a tough loss on Saturday night at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. They watched a late 2-1 lead wiped away by a go-ahead two-run home run by first baseman Willson Contreras.

Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder was left in to complete eight innings despite the double and home run that unfolded. With how well he had been pitching, Walt Weiss took the gamble of riding the hot hand to secure one more out.

Elder said after the game that he didn’t feel he had his best stuff despite being able to deliver eight innings on 103 pitches. He managed to get through 7 2/3 of those innings with one earned run allowed and was a strike away from keeping it that way through a full eight.

“To be able to grind through some stuff and get eight, you know, I was happy with that, but I don’t know the location on that last pitch. It just wasn’t my best slider...It kind of sucks. Overall, to go eight, I can’t be too upset about that other than one pitch.”

Understandably, Elder isn’t happy with the pitch that he threw to Contreras because of the result. But it really wasn’t a bad pitch. He threw a slider that dropped below the strike zone. Most of the time, that’s likely to get a swing and a miss, or he swings on top of the ball, and it’s hit onto the ground.

A look at the slider that Bryce Elder threw to Willson Contreras in the eighth inning on Saturday | MLB Gameday

With two strikes, Elder threw his best pitch in a good spot, and Contreras was able to get every bit of it. He hit one out off a pitch that hitters have had a .246 slugging percentage against and whiff at 34.4% of the time. It was the second home run off the pitch all season.

Leaving Elder in may not have panned out according to the scoreboard, but that doesn’t mean it was the wrong decision. More often than not, that pitch sequence has him out of the inning, and the Braves win 2-1.

More went right on the pitching side than meets the eye. It just didn't work out.

Manager Walt Weiss said if the bullpen wasn't as strained as it was, he would have gone to the bullpen for the eighth inning. But he still felt that Elder gave the team one of the best possible outcomes.

Weiss also noted that offense didn't back up Elder's night as well as they could have.

"We're obviously really thin out there in the [bullpen], but you know, we only scored two runs," he said. "We needed to score some more runs tonight, but Bryce gave us exactly what we needed. Did an outstanding job."

The Braves mustered two runs off five hits and two walks across the first eight innings of the game. They then left the bases loaded in the ninth inning. They went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position overall and left five runners on base, most of whom were left on in the ninth.

More went wrong on Saturday than a couple of batters in the top of the eighth. The Braves felt they had no choice but to keep their starter out there, and the offense didn't contribute. It would have just been easier to overlook it if Contreras hadn't read that slider perfectly.

In theory, when you get eight innings from your starter, and you hold a team to three runs, it's a winnable game.

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