Bryce Elder Refuses To Go Quietly in 5th Starter Battle

The Atlanta Braves are watching two pitchers duke it out for the final rotation spot

The Atlanta Braves have a big decision to make about the final spot in the rotation. 

And the two favorites for the job aren't making the pending decision any easier. 

Bryce Elder and Reynaldo López both handled business in today's 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox from "Fenway South" in Ft. Myers, FL. 

The duo combined for only one run on two hits in 6.1 inning, striking out ten Sox and walking three. 

Elder opened the game and battled some control issues, walking two of the first six batters. He also gave up a 1st inning homer to left fielder Masataka Yoshida, thankfully with no one on base, but rebounded to cruise through the rest of the outing. Elder finished with only the one run allowed on two hits through his 3.1 innings, an outing that he was ultimately happy with. 

"Today was a bit wild, but I found a way to get people out." Elder told MLB.com's Mark Bowman. "As we get closer to the season, that’s where we’re going to go. So, I was pleased.”

After Ray Kerr finished up the 4th inning, allowing two runners (a walk and a hit) but getting a strikeout and flyout to end the inning, it was López's turn to make his case for the final rotation spot. 

And López made another strong argument, pitching three full innings with no hits or runs, walking one and striking out four. His spring training ERA is now down to a minuscule 1.13 and he seemingly has the inside track on that final roster spot over Elder, owing to roster construction needs and minor league options. 

Snitker was pleased with both guys after the game, seemingly highlighting the difficulty of the decision facing Atlanta. "I hope they both keep throwing the ball great all spring.”

But as difficult as it feels to make this decision, it really isn't. As López is close to fully stretched out after two seasons as a starter, it's really easy to send him over to the bullpen later in the season, as attrition wears down the bullpen and he surpasses his reliever workload over the last two seasons, a combined 131.1 innings. But stretching him out as a starter mid-season would be significantly harder.  

And for Elder? He still has minor league options, so starting him out in AAA (where he'd be in line to make a second consecutive Opening Day start for Gwinnett) is the logical course of action here. 

But make no mistake, Elder going to the minor leagues isn't going to be a full-time thing. Because of Chris Sale's previous injury issues and the aforementioned reliever's workload for López, Elder's going to make plenty of starts. 

It might be week two, or four, or eight, but he'll be back in Atlanta.