Night's loss might be season's gain as Braves find extra rest for arms

ATLANTA -- Instead of giving the top National League Cy Young Award candidate his third start since the All-Star break, the Braves called Bryce Elder up from Triple-A Gwinnett to make his third big league start since the break.

The Braves have given each of their starting pitchers extra rest whenever necessary. This could prove very beneficial once the postseason begins. But as Elder was battered during a 10-0 loss to the Brewers on Tuesday night, it was easy to second-guess the decision to give Chris Sale an additional day of rest.

“We felt good about the way Bryce pitched against them the last time,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s kind of an easy call, really. It didn’t go so good tonight, obviously. I think this is something we’re going to have to do to get [Sale] to the finish line.”

It should be noted that this one rotation decision is far from the Braves’ only current issue. They have been outscored 20-0 over the past 24 innings, going back to the fourth inning of Saturday’s loss to the Marlins. The good vibes created by last week’s 6-1 stretch have faded during a three-game losing streak.

No longer do the Braves stand alone atop the NL Wild Card standings. The D-backs and Padres are right there with them.

Instead of sending Sale to the mound with one extra day of rest on Tuesday, the Braves opted to have him start Wednesday with two extra days of rest. Had he started Tuesday, to create an extra day of rest for the starters next week, the team might have had to call someone up to start Sunday’s series finale at offense-friendly Coors Field.

The Braves might now send Spencer Schwellenbach (Friday), Grant Holmes (Saturday) and Max Fried (Sunday) to the mound during this weekend’s series in Denver. Each would be starting with two extra days of rest.

“It’s not about where they’re pitching, it’s about when they’re pitching,” Snitker said. “We’re not looking at matchups. We’re not looking at venues. We’re just kind of looking at the extra time to get some of these guys to the finish line.”

You can’t argue against the results so far. Sale has produced an NL-best 2.71 ERA while making 18 of his 20 starts with at least one extra day of rest. He has far exceeded the expectations after multiple ailments limited him to 151 innings over the past four seasons.

Reynaldo López has made 17 of 19 starts with extra rest. His 2.06 ERA would lead the Majors if he had completed enough innings to qualify. The reliever turned starter will get three weeks off after being placed on the injured list on Monday.

Each of Schwellenbach’s 11 starts has been made with extra rest. That’s certainly beneficial for someone who has very limited experience as a starter since graduating high school in 2018. The schedule has also benefited 40-year-old Charlie Morton, who has made 19 of 20 starts with extra rest.

Snitker indicated that once López comes off the injured list within the next two weeks, the Braves might start having their starters pitch on normal rest on a consistent basis. The plan was to do this for much of the second half. But that was before both Fried and López went on the IL after the All-Star break.

“We’re trying to keep as many as we can upright right now,” Snitker said.

Elder allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings after he was called up to pitch in Milwaukee in a 5-1 win on July 30. He was immediately sent back to Gwinnett. Elder was able to come back up this week because he took López’s roster spot. His line was much different, as he allowed seven runs over 3 2/3 innings.

But from a personal perspective, the result was the same. The 2023 All-Star hurler was sent back to Gwinnett yet again.

“When you have nights like this, it sucks,” Elder said. “But I pitched well last week and I got sent back down. I pitched bad this week and got sent back down.”

Frustration has surrounded the Braves, who have been shut out in consecutive nine-inning games for the first time since the Phillies blanked them on Sept. 1 and 2, 2014. Sunday’s 7-0 loss to the Marlins marked the first time Atlanta had been blanked at home over a 231-game span going back to Aug. 28, 2021. That was MLB’s third-longest streak of the Modern Era (since 190o).

“Even with losing guys [to injuries], we still feel like we have the guys and manpower to score more runs than we have,” Snitker said. “That’s the tough thing. We’ve been so accustomed to being such an offensive force here, and now all of a sudden we’re not this year, for whatever reason.”