The Not-So-Simple Solution to the Braves' Bryce Elder Dilemma

The last few weeks haven't gotten any easier for Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder. After pitching two scoreless innings on Thursday, he ran into trouble again.

He allowed three home runs against Pittsburgh Pirates bats, which drove in four runs, three of which were earned. Elder found himself out of the game after just four innings pitched and 69 pitches thrown.

Two home runs came off the slider, which had been the pitch he had spent time refining. The other was a cutter that he threw inside to a switch hitter batting left-handed. That was also normal for his sequencing this year.

"It was a grind for Bryce," manager Walt Weiss said after the game. "He was throwing a lot of stressful innings. A lot of guys on base. He was throwing a lot of pitches. I knew the leash was going to be shorter with him today anyway.

Knowing the leash was going to be shorter is an indicator that they're prepared for the worst at this point. However, Weiss said he felt Elder can still return to form. But they're also relying on him to find his way.

"Look, we need him to be who he is, and I think he will be, but he had to grind through that one," he said.

Over his last seven starts, he's had an 8.47 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. Home runs have been a key culprit, allowing 10 in that span. He's seen his season ERA balloon from 1.97 to 4.12.

What's notable from during this stretch is that he hasn't pitched on a normal schedule at all. Up until June 7, he had been pitching mostly on four days rest with some five days rest sprinkled in. Since then, it's been mostly six days of rest with his most recent start coming after 11 days of rest.

Elder has emphasized how the extra rest doesn't necessarily help.

"I just over time, I figured out the better I feel as far as rested being able to on stuff," Elder said last week. "I think it flattens the sinker out, and I'm on a little more rest this week, but I don't know. Somthing just about that tired feeling and knowing I can't really stay behind it and push it hard."

In his defense, the wheels didn't truly start coming off the tracks until there was more rest. Even after he allowed five runs on 3 1/3 innings pitched against the Red Sox on May 27, he still pitched well the following two starts. Both of those were on normal rest.

However, his brutal day in Queen, where he allowed eight earned runs, was also on normal rest. The Braves were likely trying to keep him fresh after that. Perhaps there is no clear answer. A lack of a schedule doens't help, but there isn't a guarantee that reglar rest like he had before is going to automatically fix it.

It wouldn't hurt to at least give it a try since the track record on four or five days of rest is better than longer. He's shown he can figure it out before. Last season was an example of doing so after a very frustrating stretch.

Even if they don't think it will happen, which I doubt they think that, the Braves don't have much of a choice but to experiment and see. Starting pitching is a commodity they're short on right now. Seeing this through with Elder is something they have to do, at least until another arm gets healthy or they bring in external help.

Even then, the recent track record shows something could go wrong, and that would only buy him more time to see if a return to the regular schedule can do the trick.

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