Why Bryce Elder's Turnaround for Atlanta Braves is No Fluke

The success that Bryce Elder experienced toward the end of last year didn’t simply carry over. The Atlanta Braves right-hander managed to take his game a step further to reach new heights early in the 2026 season.

Through four starts this season, he has a National League-leading 0.77 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP, a 523 ERA+ and 23 strikeouts across 23 1/3 innings pitched. He’s missing more bats, and he’s drawing significantly more weak contact compared to last season.

Elder reflected on how he approaches his trips to the mound now compared to in the past. He felt he had become a more complete pitcher.

He’s not taking it for granted. He knows a bump in the road is inevitable. The goal is to do his best to keep things consistent and remain effective.

“We’re just going to try and keep it going,” he said.

Elder’s slider has taken a step forward and become a lethal primary pitch. It has more movement compared to previous seasons, with nearly four more inches of vertical drop. Hitters are batting .143 against the pitch compared to .259.

Along with the improved slider, he’s made some overhauls to his pitch selection. A notable pitch that has started to gain some prominence, specifically against left-handers, is his cutter.

He threw it in a game just once over the previous two seasons. He’s thrown it 11% of the time overall, but it represents 16% of pitches shown to lefties. They see it about as much as the changeup (15%) and more than the sinker (9.7%).

The result of switching up his approach against left-handed hitters is a .151 average and a .451 OPS against him this season.

The sinker is still a go-to pitch of his against right-handers, but it’s been scaled back in that split as well. Last year, right-handers saw the sinker 53% of the time. This year, they see it 43% of the time.

These adjustments made him a tougher nut to crack, and the metrics back up the notion that he’s not just getting lucky. Let’s look at some comparisons to how he has looked this season and in comparison to 2025, last season, and 2023, his All-Star season.

Opponents have seen their hard-hit rates and barrel rates drop against Elder. The metrics were slightly better for Elder in 2023 compared to 2025, but when measured up to this season, it’s not even close

Opponent’s Hard-Hite Rate

2023: 41%
2025: 43.8%
2026: 31.7%

Opponent’s Barrel Rate

2023: 6%
2025: 7.7%
2026: 1.7%

Strikeout Rate

2023: 17%
2025: 19.3%
2026: 25.3%

They’re not simply hitting hard, and the ball has been finding the outfielder's glove. He is undoubtedly a more effective pitcher to start this season compared to before.

Most were understandably concerned when Elder was the default option heading into 2026. Had others stayed healthy, such as Spencer Schwellenbach, he either may not have gotten the chance or started this season as a long reliever. He’s out of options now. If he didn’t fit into the equation, his time may have been up.

That wasn’t the case during spring training, and that hasn’t changed since. Regardless of who is coming up in the minor leagues or who is recovering from injury, he’s not just keeping a seat warm for them and benefiting from being healthy.

Elder is showing that he belongs in the Braves' rotation. He took the effort to reinvent himself, and now that spot once every five days is truly his.

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