The Atlanta Braves losing AJ Smith-Shawver to a torn UCL is absolutely brutal no matter how you look at it.

Not only was Smith-Shawver in the middle of a fantastic run to start the 2025 season, but the Braves’ rotation is really the main reason why Atlanta has been able to hang around at all through the first couple of months. Replacing Smith-Shawver’s production is not going to be easy.

Unfortunately, the options to replace Smith-Shawver are limited. Losing Reynaldo Lopez to a shoulder injury already hurt the team’s starting pitching depth and while Hurston Waldrep has looked better of late in the minors, he still could use some more seasoning to let his adjustments take hold.

However, Bryce Elder is still available and the Braves are giving him a try again after sending Dylan Dodd back down to the minors.

Braves recalling Bryce Elder again in hopes that lightning can strike twice

Elder is a polarizing figure amongst Braves fans. There is no denying that Elder performed well in the majors this season, but there are reasons to be skeptical of his sustainability.

The fact that he has an 8.76 ERA in three starts down at Triple-A doesn’t exactly inspire the most confidence in his ability to get big league hitters out over a large sample.

However, the Braves don’t need him to be amazing, but just to eat innings. If he can be remotely close to the guy that posted a 4.50 ERA across eight starts earlier this season, that will be enough. Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach are throwing the ball great at the moment and Spencer Strider continues to get better and better as he builds his arm back up.

Atlanta just needs Elder to keep games reasonably close which he mostly did during his first stint with the big league team this season.

As for Dodd, he is unfortunately firmly on the Gwinnett Shuttle for the foreseeable future. He is good enough as bullpen depth to keep around, but has not been able to demonstrate he deserves to keep a big league roster spot permanently.

He will probably get called back up again this year, but we have yet to see any reason to think that the Braves have enough confidence in him to actually let him win a job.