Preview: Bryce Elder takes the mound as Atlanta begins important series with Mets

The Atlanta Braves will begin a very important series with the New York Mets on Tuesday evening. Atlanta currently sits in first place in the NL East while the Mets are in third place and 5.5 games back of the division lead.

Fans are in for some potentially great pitching matchups in this series. Scherzer will oppose Morton, Verlander will oppose Strider, and on Tuesday, Carassco will oppose Elder. These are the kinds of games that baseball fans live for and it's going to be a tough but fun series.

Starters for Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets Game One

Bryce Elder takes the mound in game one of the series and this will be his first career start against the Mets. He did pitch against the Mets in 2022 but that was out of the bullpen in August of 2022. It wasn't the best outing for Elder as he went just 2.1 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits.

Elder is a different pitcher than he was back then and I expect he will fair much better against New York this season. His ERA sits a 1.92 for the season and his last outing in Oakland was a very good one. Bryce threw 7.1 innings allowing one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Walks are something Elder has struggled with so that's one area he'll need to improve especially in this series.

Elder will be opposed by veteran pitcher, Carlos Carrasco who currently has a 5.74 ERA across 31.1 innings pitched. His last start against the Phillies was a pretty good one though as he kept them to just one run on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Carrasco has a career ERA of 4.30 in 23 innings against the Atlanta Braves with six walks and nineteen strikeouts. A rather small sample size but shows the Braves have some success against him. The Braves have scored 11 runs on 21 hits with 5 of those hits being home runs.

This should turn out to be a great series and a fun one to watch. We all know how tough these Braves and Mets games were last season and how important they were. I don't expect this year to be any different. Atlanta currently has the advantage in the season series with 2 wins and 1 loss.

Where to watch Game One

Where and when: Truist Park in Atlanta, GA at 7:20 PM EST

Watch: Bally Sports South and TBS

Listen: 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM