Braves Briefing: Atlanta sweeps Cardinals, Bryce Elder excels in spot start

The Atlanta Braves sealed the series sweep against the St. Louis Cardinals with a 5-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon. Atlanta's the first team to sweep the Cardinals in St. Louis since August 2021...when Atlanta did it on their way to a World Series Championship. The Braves have won 17 of their last 22 regular season matchups against the Cardinals.

Bryce Elder excelled

AAA Gwinnett's Opening Day starter, Elder was called up to fill in for Max Fried, who went on the IL earlier this week with a hamstring strain he suffered in his opening day start against the Nationals.

Elder pitched six innings with two hits and no runs with three walks and six strikeouts, building off the excellent finish from last year when he pitched a complete game shutout of the Washington Nationals on September 26th, with six hits, one walk, and six strikeouts.

It completes a great series for Atlanta's young pitchers, with Dylan Dodd and Elder combining for eleven innings with only one run allowed against a very potent Cardinals lineup.

Bryce Elder, Filth. 😷 pic.twitter.com/FOgx3fITgn
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 5, 2023

READ: Bryce Elder was dominant in his first start of the season

NL East Standings

The New York Mets were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers, being walked off in game three by prospect Garrett Mitchell's solo shot in the 9th inning.

GARRETT MITCHELL WALK-OFF HOMER!

The Brewers sweep the Mets! pic.twitter.com/ev7pmTpdBq
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 5, 2023

The Brewers sweep over the Mets, combined with a Marlins series win over the Twins, has the NL East standings with an interesting look early:

Atlanta 5-1 (Home vs Padres today)

NYM 3-4 - 2.5 GB (Home vs Marlins - postponed due to weather)

Miami 3-4 - 2.5 GB (Away vs Mets - postponed due to weather)

Phillies 1-5 - 4.0 GB (Home Opener vs Cincinnati - postponed due to weather)

Washington 1-5 - 4.0 GB (Away vs Colorado)

We Wrote It

Braves Today writer Andrew Stefaniak, in last night's takeaways, noted an interesting statistical discrepancy in catcher Travis d'Arnaud's performance at the plate this season:

Travis d'Arnaud has had a hot start to the season, but he is hitting much better as a DH than a catcher through six games. When d'Arnaud is the designated hitter this season, he is 8-13 for a batting average of .615. When he start behind the dish, he is 2-13 for a batting average of .154. This isn't surprising, as catching can be hard on the body. It makes sense that he would be fresh when not behind the plate. Despite hitting a few balls hard, he was 0-4 in this ball game. The Braves need the discrepancy at the plate between days d'Arnaud is catching and designated hitting to end. If he could be a consistently good hitter, no matter if he is in the field or not, it would benefit this ball club.

Check out the full story here.

What's next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta's home opener is scheduled for tonight against the San Diego Padres, opening a four game set. First pitch is scheduled for 7:20 PM ET, with Spencer Strider facing off against San Diego's Blake Snell. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast, and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.