Notebook: Braves’ Elder has mixed results in third start

“I think I got a little short out there, trying to pin stuff at the bottom (of the zone) too much,” Elder said. “I really thought my stuff was pretty solid, probably the best I’ve felt with the slider — when I came back out — that I’ve had in a long time. So that was a positive.

“Obviously we can handle the hits like they were today, but we can’t handle ‘em 2-0 after a walk or something like that. So pretty simple, straightforward, got to get ahead more and control the counts better.”

Elder had to battle early Sunday because of Taylor Walls’ bunt single to third to start the bottom of the first. Elder’s second pitch to Jake Fraley hit Fraley’s foot, and then a wild pitch moved those two runners up a base.

But Elder gave up just a run thanks to Ben Williamson’s RBI groundout and a 1-4-3 double play.

Jonny DeLuca started the second inning by hitting a ball down the third-base line that took a funky hop and went off the glove of Kyle Farmer for a double. A pair of groundouts brought DeLuca home.

Elder, however, wasn’t out of the woods. He walked Xavier Isaac, gave up a solid single to right to Walls and then an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Fraley. Elder exited at that point and watched from the dugout as reliever Darius Vines served up a three-run homer to Williamson.

Four of the five runs in the Rays’ second inning were charged to Elder.

“I think today I, like, almost felt too good, like I was trying to do too much,” Elder said. “I think that’s the key — staying within what I can do.

“Obviously a little rusty today, but my stuff was good from a stuff standpoint.”

Elder came back out for the bottom of the third and got a four-pitch strikeout and a five-pitch strikeout before yet another walk, Elder’s third of the game. A deep flyout to the right-field corner ended the inning.

‘Tough conversations’

As of Sunday, the Braves still had 54 active players left in spring training camp. That number will continue to dwindle with the countdown to opening day now less than 20 days away, and with the final Grapefruit League game now 16 days away.

Braves manager Walt Weiss has often mentioned the “tough conversations” he’s in charge of having now that he’s sitting in the manager’s office. He said Sunday more of those conversations are on the horizon.

“Look, there’ll be guys that probably deserve to make our team that won’t, it’s just the nature of it,” Weiss said. “A lot of it comes down to how do the pieces fit, and how do the pieces complement each other? It’s not just, this guy is better than this guy, you know? It’s just how does it fit on our bench, and how does it complement the other pieces on the roster. That has a lot to do with it.”

Bullpen talk

By the end of spring camp, the Braves’ bullpen will likely include closer Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez serving as the setup man and relievers Dylan Lee, Aaron Bummer and Tyler Kinley. Who claims the other few bullpen chairs remains a competition this month.

And the Braves have plenty of options.

“We got a lot of interesting guys, man. And I told them on Day 1, we’re gonna need them. We’re gonna need them all,” Weiss said. “We used 44 (pitchers) last year. I don’t know what the record is, but we had to be close. They’re all on the radar.”

Joel Payamps (a November signing), Ian Hamilton (a December signing), James Karinchak (signed in December to a minor-league contract), Dylan Dodd, José Suarez and Hayden Harris are among the many possibilities who could make the club for opening day. Daysbel Hernandez, who ended the 2025 season in the 60-day injured list, has yet to throw in a Grapefruit League game but could be an option too.

Weiss reiterated who makes the opening day roster won’t matter a whole lot in the long run though.

“We know two or three weeks into the season, and maybe not even that long, it’s going to look very different,” he added. “That’s the way it tends to be. When you get to September and you think about the team you broke camp with, it looks nothing like it. I get it because we’re starting the season, and here we go and here’s our guys, but it’s gonna change.”

Grapefruit League Manager of the Year

Weiss joked this week he won’t be winning the Grapefruit League manager of the year of the award for leading the Braves to a possible league title. That’s because no such award exists. Because the results don’t matter.

“Look, anytime they’re keeping score, you want to win. But I also know that I’m not gonna put too much stock in this. I’ve been around long enough where I’ve seen world champions have terrible spring trainings and vice versa,” Weiss said. “So I know not to put too much stock, but the same time, like I said, they light up a scoreboard, man, you want to have more points than the other team.”

Ahead of Sunday afternoon’s trip to Port Charlotte to face the Rays, the Braves had a record of 10-2-1. That mark doesn’t include a split-squad win March 1 against the Rays or a split-squad tie in Fort Myers against the Twins that same day.

The win-loss record, especially when the outcome is often determined by guys without names on their jerseys and wearing numbers in the 90s, is in no way indicative of how the next six months will pan out when the results actually matter, but maybe they are a slight indication of the makeup of Weiss’ squad.

“I think it’s a result, to be honest with you, of the focus of this camp, more than anything. Been really happy with that,” Weiss said. “These guys have a fine-tuned focus already from the beginning of camp.

“Probably the struggles of last year has something to do with it. The way we started last year, 0-7, probably has something to do with it. There’s some urgency and there’s a finer-tuned focus that I’m seeing this year. And I told them on Day 1, the best clubhouse is one that’s loose and fun and focused, those three things. If that’s our clubhouse, if you describe our clubhouse that way, we’re right where we want to be.”