Bryce Elder has up-and-down start for Braves against Nationals in spring training action

Atlanta’s mercurial hurler had himself another, well, mercurial performance.

Bryce Elder’s first spring training start in 2024 was a proverbial rollercoaster ride where the peaks and valleys varied with each inning while he was out there on the mound. Eventually, he averaged out to having a decent outing as the Atlanta Braves were on the road in spring training action against the Washington Nationals on Thursday evening.

Elder got the ball to start tonight’s contest and it was a bit of an up-and-down outing for the starting rotation candidate. The first inning went relatively smoothly for Elder, as he racked up the ground ball outs while only giving up a single to Dylan Crews. The second inning wasn’t as smooth, as Elder found himself in trouble with one out in the frame after he walked Paul DeJong. Three singles and a productive out later, the Nationals had suddenly staked themselves to a 2-0 lead and Bryce Elder headed to the dugout with two out in the second inning after CJ Abrams brought in the second run of the inning.

Jake McSteen finished off the second inning but because we are in the magical universe of spring training baseball, this wasn’t the end of the game for Bryce Elder. Indeed, the crafty 25-year-old ended up going right back out there for the third inning and while his second inning was rough, he was able to end his night with a flourish.

Elder struck out Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell to start his actual final inning and then he got Luis García Jr to hit a laser that landed squarely in the glove of Conner Capel. After ending his night on a high note, Elder finished with 2.2 innings pitched, four hits allowed, a walk, two runs, and two strikeouts. Nobody’s claiming roster spots this early on in spring training but every little bit helps and Elder’s performance was overall decent.

Once Elder was done (for real this time), Chasen Shreve pitched the next two innings and made short work of the Nationals batters he faced while he was out there. Shreve only gave up one hit and one walk for the pair of innings that he was out there and he was also able to finish his outing by striking out Josh Bell to end the fifth inning. Needless to say, that’s a very tidy spring outing as far as Chasen Shreve is concerned.

Once Shreve was done pitching, it was Drue Hackenberg’s turn to get some pitches in and he certainly had himself an adventure while he was out there. He gave up a walk and a single his first frame of work but he didn’t have to deal with anything else on the basepaths besides that during that particlar inning. The seventh inning is where it got got kind of rocky for Hackenberg. He started off the inning with a strikeout but then found himself in some trouble when Trey Lipscomb got on with a single and then stole second. Lipscomb was joined on the basepaths by Alex Call, who coaxed a two-out walk out of Hackenberg to extend the inning. Hackenberg then uncorked a wild pitch against Daylen Lile to move both runners into scoring position and then he capped it off by walking Lile.

Hackenberg got himself into a bases-loaded mess but he didn’t get the opportunity to get himself out of it as the Braves went with Samuel Strickland to finish off the frame. Fortunately, Strickland got Brady House to ground out and end the inning right there in order to make sure that Hackenberg somehow got out of that without giving up a single run. This wasn’t exactly a night to remember for Drue Hackenberg but at the same time, it’s still February and there’s plenty of time between now and the regular season.

Meanwhile at the plate, this was predictably a quiet night as far as Atlanta’s bats were concerned — and I’m not just saying that because the man who haunted the dreams of the 2024 Braves was starting for the Nationals this evening. Jake Irvin pitched 2.1 inning and while he did give up a pair of walks to Sandy León and Jake Marisnick (the two roster hopefuls went back-to-back with their walks), the Braves didn’t get a hit off of Irvin while he was out there and León and Marisnick were the only two baserunners that Irvin had to deal with.

In fact, we had to wait until the fourth inning to see the Braves get their first knock of the game, which came from Bryan De La Cruz doubling to center field to lead off that frame. Marcell Ozuna joined De La Cruz on the basepaths with a walk and De La Cruz eventually made it home for the first run of the night after Conner Capel brought him home with a sacrifice fly. Jake Marisnick found himself in the hit column in the very next frame, which is when he smacked one to right off of Brad Lord. Marisnick got himself a stolen base on a strikeout and then he eventually made it home after Riley Adams threw away what would’ve been the third out of the inning. Instead, José Devers ad himself an RBI and we had ourselves a tied ballgame for everybody actually paying attention to the score.

There was no more action at the plate until the eighth inning, which is when Cal Conley led off the penultimate inning of the game with a double. Conley got to third on a wild pitch and then he sauntered home when Carlos D. Rodriguez sent a double out to right to put the Braves ahead for the first time all night. Drake Baldwin entered the game as the DH at this point and picked up a walk for the one at-bat that he had in tonight’s contest.

As far as the actual result of the game goes, Dany Jiménez and Daison Acosta traded shaky innings of their own, resulted in the score going from 3-2 Braves heading into the bottom of the eighth inning to being 4-3 Braves heading into the bottom of the ninth. Rob Griswold pitched a scoreless ninth inning and just like that, it was immediately time to focus on tomorrow’s spring training action. Hopefully Nacho Alvarez Jr. is feeling better as well, as he exited tonight’s game with a wrist ailment. One of the most important things about any given spring training game is making sure that you can get through it without any serious injuries so hopefully Alvarez will be fine going forward.

If you enjoyed tonight’s broadcast on Gray TV, then the good news is that you’ll get another opportunity to check out what they bring to the baseball broadcasting table tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET. Atlanta’s going to be heading to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, where Grant Holmes will be getting the start and the Marlins will have Sandy Alcantara going against the Braves for the first time in quite a while. Whether you want to see Alcantara once again or if you want to see Grant Holmes build on what he’s already done here in spring training so far, there’s plenty of reason to try to catch tomorrow afternoon’s action.