Trying to avoid becoming Dustin the wind
At least it’s the last game against the Los Angeles Dodgers until maybe October.
The downside is that it’s being started by Bryce Elder. The nearly 26-year-old sports a 5.33 ERA, and while his xERA and his xFIP are both around a run lower, that’s still not inspiring against the 4th best team in baseball in wRC+. Elder continues to get a lot of groundballs (about 53% of balls in play), but his K rate is down to about 5 per inning while he still walks over 3 per 9. He still throws primarily a sinker and slider with a four-seamer and change-up as less common but still significant pitches in his repertoire.
Facing Elder is Dustin May. May has a flashier name, reputation, and fastball, and while he is the better pitcher of the two, they amount to about the same things. May gets more strikeouts and a similar amount of groundballs, but part of this is offset by a higher walk rate. If you look at their Statcasts, I’ll let you guess which is which.
(May is on the left, Elder on the right)
Again May is the better pitcher, but the gap is probably somewhat closer than their name recognition implies. May will attack the Braves primarily with a sweeper and a sinker along with a four-seamer that kind of blends into a cutter. The oft-injured right-hander is no longer injured, and we might just be seeing the initial comeback, meaning there might be more yet left in this tank.
The Atlanta Braves are now 4 games below .500 again, and they’re on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Time for a win.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Sunday, May 04, 2025 at 7:10 PM EST
Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ
TV: ESPN
Streaming: [Whatever your cable-streaming app of choice is]
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan / La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM