The rain delay that shortened Grant Holmes Wednesday's start again against the Nationals may have been a blessing in disguise for the Atlanta Braves. Even with the bullpen covering six full innings, the long relievers and the day off on Thursday gave the club enough flexibility to reshuffle their pitching plans yet again.
Originally, the Braves announced that Bryce Elder would start the finale versus the Phillies on Monday, but with Holmes only throwing 26 pitches, and with Elder coming off a rough start against one of the worst teams in MLB, the Braves altered course.
Grant Holmes will now start for the Braves on Monday.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 3, 2026
Braves swap out Bryce Elder in alternation of rotation plans
The Braves' upcoming four game series against the Phillies might be one of the biggest series of the year for Atlanta, and with the rain delay pushing out Holmes after just three innings, the Braves saw an opportunity to swap out the struggling Elder to give themselves a better chance at solidifying their NL East first place lead.
The righty allowed five runs in his start on Monday against the Giants, giving up two homers. Elder finished up August with a 5.22 ERA and 4.97 FIP. Since the beginning of June, Elder has a 5.61 ERA and 5.84 FIP. Although Elder has had a few solid starts in that 14 start stretch, there has been plenty of smoke and mirrors in his good starts that suggest that Elder may have been more lucky than good.
Of course, Holmes isn't necessarily a huge improvement over Elder, but Holmes has had much less variance in terms of run prevention from start to start. Holmes has only allowed more than three earned runs in two of his 27 starts.
While his FIP being more than run higher than his ERA is slightly concerning, Holmes has managed to at least keep games close in his starts. Additionally, Holmes has thrown 85 or fewer pitches in six of his last seven starts, which should indicate his arm is fresher than Elder's for Monday's start.
Elder, meanwhile has benefitted from the extra rest the Braves have given him since July. Although his first extended rest day didn't yield positive returns when he allowed four runs over four innings against the Pirates at the beginning of July, the following 10 day break did, and his most recent quality start against the Giants featured an eight day break.
Overall, the Braves' decision to push Elder back might be a combination between giving themselves the best shot to beat the Phillies and the best shot at getting Elder back on track before the regular season is over.
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