It is hard to get too excited after a loss. The Atlanta Braves did not look particularly impressive during their 2-1 loss to the Diamondbacks, as they seemed to have no answer for old friend Michael Soroka and the rest of Arizona's pitching staff. However, yet another solid start from Bryce Elder continued a trend that continues to defy reason with this Braves squad.
Despite not exactly having the faith of Atlanta's fan base (or at least a significant portion of them), Elder has been very good to start 2026. After going seven innings against the Diamondbacks, Elder has yet to give up an earned run (although he was "responsible" for two runs against Arizona because he made a throwing error) across 13 innings of work with 13 strikeouts against just two walks. Whatever you think about Elder's stuff or long-term projection, that will play.
What is even wilder is that Elder excelling as he has is a part of the Braves' much-maligned starting rotation’s successful flipping of the script and looking pretty awesome this season thus far.
Bryce Elder's surprisingly strong start is part of Braves' rotation even more shocking dominance so far
Yes, we know that it has only been nine games, and yes, we know that the fifth spot in the rotation is still very questionable at the moment with Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, and Spencer Strider out. Strider should return soon to address that problem, though, so we will ignore that for the moment.
In all of baseball, the Braves currently rank 10th in fWAR. Given how things started this spring, most Braves fans will happily take that. However, the news is even better than that. If you go to team ERA from starters, Atlanta places second at 1.78 ERA, with only the Yankees posting a better mark to start the season. The Braves' minimal strikeout rate (7.46 K/9) certainly hurts them in terms of FIP and could be an issue if it persists, but it is hard to argue with the results at the moment.
For the Braves, this was the one thing that could have been their Achilles' heel during this tough stretch of 13 games straight to start the season. Many wondered if Atlanta would dig itself into a hole early this season with so many hurt starters and questionable replacements. Sure, it will be nice when Martin Perez and/or Jose Suarez aren't throwing meaningful innings, but that shouldn't take away from what the rotation as a whole has done so far.