Today was a lot better for Bryce Elder as far as results during spring training are concerned. Elder had a successful ramp-up during against the Red Sox and bounced back from a rough outing during his last appearance as the Braves continued to get ready for regular season action.
For all the grief that we like to give Elder around here, he does have his moments where he looks like a perfectly fine and solid hurler and this was definitely one of those occurrences. Elder got through the first two innings of this one without giving up a run — he did give up a leadoff double to the newly-crowned Grapefruit League Stolen Base King Andruw Monasterio but he ended up getting wiped out after Drake Baldwin threw him out at second base on the stolen base attempt. That’s now five runners that Baldwin has caught stealing so far during spring training as it sure looks like he’s ready to start doing a lot of the same once the end of this month rolls around.
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In fact, Baldwin added another one to his collection in the third inning to make it six runners caught stealing so far this spring as he wiped Braiden Ward off of the basepaths. Unfortunately, this was after Vinny Capra led off the third with a walk and then stole second base to get into scoring position. Capra made it to third on a fly ball out and then scored on a bang-bang play where Ozzie Albies’ throw home from a ground ball was unable to beat Capra to the plate.
That was the only real trouble that Elder found himself in during this game, as he retired the final six batters he saw in order and finished the night with five innings under his belt along with six strikeouts with only two walks, a hit and a run allowed. I think everybody was looking for improvement following his most recent outing before this one and Elder certainly delivered in that regard.
Meanwhile, the Braves were mostly befuddled by Brayan Bello, who got through five innings with seven strikeouts and no runs allowed. Atlanta did rack up four hits against Bello, with Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II all picking up singles against Bello. Harris made it into scoring position after he stole second in the second inning but outside of that, the Braves were unable to really string together any rallies against Bello.
Getting to see new Red Sox pitcher Tyler Uberstine must’ve been like walking into an oasis for the top of Atlanta’s order because they came out swinging against him. Although Ozzie Albies struck out to lead off the sixth on a foul tip, Drake Baldwin picked up his second hit of the game with a double and then Matt Olson delivered the loudest hit of the night by launching a bomb out to the Budweiser Bench in center field off of a changeup from Uberstine. The go-ahead shot was Olson’s fourth spring dinger and I think the obvious hope here is that the rhythm this lineup is in will hopefully carry into the regular season.
Most of the projected Opening Day roster players for the Braves got three plate appearances in this one before making their exit and then Walt Weiss went with organizational depth once Elder left the game, so the ride ended there if you’re interested in anybody that you’ll be regularly seeing from April and beyond here in 2026. Eli White did pick up a hit in the seventh inning before he promptly exited the game and Atlanta cashed it in for a run after Jim Jarvis picked up a single to move pinch-runner Ethan Workinger over to third and then Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. plated him with a sacrifice fly.
Atlanta did have a big inning in the eighth, though — Workinger added to his tally with two RBI, Jorge Mateo picked up an RBI after Red Sox outfielder Corey Rosier failed to corral in a line drive on a diving attempt, Jim Jarvis joined in on the fun with an RBI single of his own and then Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. joined the conga line to make it six-straight hits and seven-straight baserunners for the Braves. Once the smoke cleared and Red Sox pitcher Michael Sansone woke up from his nightmare, the Braves ended up plating seven in the bottom of the eighth.
The Braves ended up sauntering to another spring training win and while you may have quibbles with the fact that the lineup didn’t really do much against Boston’s starter, the same could be said of the Red Sox lineup’s fate against Bryce Elder in this one. Elder’s improvement was really nice to see and hopefully we’ll see that moving forward and we’ll also continue to see Atlanta’s regulars at least continue to pick up some hits like they did once Bello left the game.
Tomorrow’s game starts at 1:05 p.m. ET (I triple-checked this time) as the Braves will take on the Phillies in Clearwater.