The Atlanta Braves are coming off their fifth straight National League Title and their first 100-win season since 2003. Naturally, there aren't a lot of issues with a team looking like that, but one that faces them is how they round out the pitching staff.
Michael Soroka, Ian Anderson, and Bryce Elder are the frontrunners among a handful of pitchers vying for the fifth job in the rotation, but Abe Gordon is confident that we already know who that guy is.
"To me, it's pretty obvious, and it's not even the worst-case scenario, it's what I'm defaulting to already," Abe explained about the race for the fifth spot. "I'm already at the point where Anderson and Soroka have to beat [Elder] out and take the job from him. This guy doesn't have to win the job. It's his. It's up to them to surpass him."
Elder made his major league debut last spring due to a lack of other options for the Braves, but the 23-year-old was largely effective. He posted a respectable 3.17 ERA through his 54 innings.
"In 2022 he made 9 starts, four of which came early in the season out of necessity," Abe continued. "When he returned to the rotation in mid-August, he made five starts, averaging over 6 innings per start with just one run allowed. He was outstanding down the stretch. He struck out 33, walked just nine, and only allowed one home run. If you recall, his best start was actually a complete game shutout of the [Washington] Nationals."
Heading into the 2022 season, there was plenty of optimism surrounding Soroka and Anderson. The latter had just helped lead the Braves to a World Series win, and the former was hopeful to return after an injury-plagued last few years.
Neither panned out.
Anderson struggled with his control and walked a career-high 11 percent of the batters he faced before being optioned down to AAA where he was eventually shut down for the season. While he's coming back to the team with a new pitch, there is still a level of uncertainty with him.
Soroka, on the other hand, never made it back to the majors, but did make a few AAA appearances. The Braves are holding onto hope that the 2020 All-Star can return to his pre-injury form on the mound, but that can't be counted on until proven otherwise.
There is a strong possibility that we see all three of these guys on the mound at some point in 2023, and there is optimism with all of the Braves' options, but Elder should be the guy on the opening roster as of right now.