Bryce Elder gives up two homers in loss to Giants

Elder will get some additional time off to recover after experiencing some diminished velocity during his last start against the Giants where he allowed five runs over four innings last Saturday. The 27-year-old will be pushed back to next week’s series against the Pirates. It’ll be Grant Holmes taking the ball for Friday’s game against the Mets.

López has plenty of starting experience and will jump into Atlanta’s rotation mix with Bryce Elder remaining on schedule to take the ball on Saturday with Chris Sale being pushed back to Sunday’s series finale. López is unlikely to work deep enough into the contest to deliver significant fantasy appeal. He holds a solid 3.50 ERA and 39/21 K/BB ratio across 43 2/3 innings this season.

Things went from bad to worse in a calamitous opening frame as Elder coughed up a three-run homer to William Contreras that gave Milwaukee an early 8-0 advantage. The 27-year-old righty somehow managed to settle in afterwards and spare Atlanta’s bullpen from having to shoulder a heavy workload, but the damage was already done. He finished with six strikeouts and handed out two free passes. He’ll attempt to bounce back with a favorable road matchup against the Giants at Oracle Park on Saturday.

Elder allowed two homers and two walks while striking out two. It’s a major regression game, though his ERA still sits at 3.15. The righty introduced a cutter this year that helped him stay ahead of hitters to begin the season, but he has now allowed 16 earned runs over his last four appearances. He had allowed just 15 earned runs all season before this stretch. Things won’t get any easier against the red-hot Brewers next time out.

Elder allowed two hits and two walks in the quality start, lowering his ERA to 2.66 on the year. The right-hander has now given up more than three earned runs in a start just once all season. Elder has been using three fastballs in 2026, adding a cutter while increasing the usage of his four-seamer at the expense of his sinker. Additionally, he’s leading with his slider for the first time in his career. The package is helping him outperform what the pitching models indicate, and he’ll look to keep rolling next time out against the Mets.

Elder gave up six hits, walked one and struck out six. He improved to 5-3 with the win. Elder allowed a two-run home run to Kazuma Okamoto in the second inning, but only allowed one other run. He has a 2.63 ERA. Elder is lined up to face the Pirates on Sunday.

Elder kept the Red Sox off the board for the first three innings despite allowing six runners to reach base over that span. In the fourth, things caught up with him a bit after he allowed a leadoff single to Masataka Yoshida to start the inning and followed that up with a walk to Mickey Gasper. Yoshida would come around to score on a fielding error, which was followed by an RBI single by Isiah Kiner-Falefa to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. Elder would allow two more batters to reach base and runs to score before being pulled. This was easily the worst outing of the season for Elder, who hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his previous nine starts. He’ll draw another tough matchup in his next start, which is scheduled for Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

Elder just keeps doing it. The addition of a new cutter this season has continued to be invaluable to his approach against left-handed batters. Again here he worked that pitch along with his fastball in on their hands to keep them honest and not allow them to dive out over the plate to hit his changeup or slider on the outer half. He’s still yet to give up more than three earned runs in any start this season and in the three where he allowed exactly three, he at least pitched into the seventh inning in each. At this point, it’s difficult not to trust him with a 1.97 ERA. 0.99 WHIP, and 64:22 strikeout to walk ratio over 72 2/3 innings so far this season. He’s scheduled to face the Red Sox in Boston next time out.

Elder had a 2-1 lead until Willson Contreras hit a two-run homer in the eighth. It was just the fourth homer allowed by Elder in 62 2/3 innings this year, and it led to his second defeat in 10 starts. He’ll take a 2.01 ERA into next week’s outing, which will probably come Friday against the Nationals.

In a battle of 2026’s biggest surprises to date, Elder easily outdueled Justin Wrobleski, even though he was pulled 3 1/3 innings earlier than the Dodgers hurler. Elder fanned eight for the third time in nine starts this season. He reached that total just twice in 28 starts last year. The victory moves him to 4-1 with a 1.81 ERA. His strikeout rate is up nicely, but his groundball rate has fallen some as a result, and he seems due to start giving up more homers. Long-term mixed-league value still seems rather unlikely. His next start will come at home versus the Red Sox.