Probably not, but…
I was at a child’s birthday party yesterday, as the Braves lost their rubber game against the Red Sox to hit a new season low in FanGraphs’ playoff odds (50.6 percent). The kid’s parents had hired some magician, and shortly after Michael Harris II struck out to end the game, some sort of stinging insect flew towards me (I was standing in an open field, there was no hive or anything that I was encroaching on) and stung me right in the eye(lid). It’s been a minor adventure ever since.
So, maybe this is a wild question, but it’s a question I had even before the stinging incident. Do the Atlanta Braves think that Bryce Elder is currently a better option than Spencer Strider?
Strider was scheduled to start Sunday’s game, up until the point where AJ Smith-Shawver went down with an elbow issue that’s going to keep him out for a long, long while. At that point, once they had the luxury of a roster spot, the Braves immediately pushed Strider and everyone else back to give Bryce Elder a start.
I understand the idea of extra rest. The Braves are seemingly obsessed with load management. They managed the daylights out of the proverbial load last year, and it’s not really clear what it got them in the end, given that Chris Sale ended up unavailable for the tail end of the season anyway, while Reynaldo Lopez missed a bunch of time down the stretch. But they have even less of the luxury of time this year than they did last year, where a good start kept them in playoff position for much of the season. Can they really afford be managing loads right now?
But, I suppose there’s an alternative. What if the Braves think that Bryce Elder (111/121/99 this year, 99/106/102 career) is better than the currently impaired Spencer Strider (109/126/121 in three starts since returning)? What then? That says something even less positive about the team’s position, because a Strider that has a near-term of outlook of a worse-than-average starter is going to be even more deadly to this team’s hopes of contending this year than a management structure that uses the distinct shape of a swirl in its coffee as a reason to push all the starters back a day.
Daily Notes
Record: 27-31
Yesterday’s wOBA and xwOBA: .231 | .236 (Season rank: 16th | 12th)
Yesterday’s opponent wOBA and xwOBA: .245 | .315 (Season rank: 14th | 13th)
Yesterday’s homers: 1
Yesterday’s homers allowed: 0
Record when out-xwOBAing: 18-12 (League: 640-232)
Record when out-xwOBAed: 9-19 (League: 232-640)
Record when out-wOBAing: 23-3 (League: 737-138)
Record when out-wOBAed: 4-28 (League: 138-737)
Record when outhomering: 13-6 (League: 461-135)
Record when outhomered: 5-16 (League: 135-461)