![\"Braves](\"https:\/\/cdn.mlbtraderumors.com\/files\/2025\/04\/Spencer_Strider_Braves-copy-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Braves optioned right-hander Bryce Elder to the minor leagues to call up southpaw Dylan Dodd earlier this weekend. The 2023 All-Star had a middling 4.50 ERA and 4.92 FIP in eight starts in the majors to this point in the season, so the club\u2019s decision to send Elder to Triple-A is hardly a shock.<\/p>\n
That said, it\u2019s still notable given that it opens up a spot in the rotation behind Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Grant Holmes.<\/p>\n
At first glance, Dodd seems like the obvious candidate to take that role considering that the lefty has started seven of his eight MLB appearances so far in his career.<\/p>\n
Dodd has moved to the bullpen full time at Triple-A this year, however, and Mark Bowman of MLB.com reported today that right-hander Spencer Strider is actually the one who will take Elder\u2019s spot in the rotation after he\u2019s activated from the injured list on May 20.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old missed nearly all of last season after undergoing internal brace surgery on his UCL early last year.<\/p>\n
The righty made it back to the big league mound just over a month ago and struck out five across five innings of one-run ball, but suffered a hamstring injury shortly thereafter while playing catch in preparation for his second start of the season.<\/p>\n
Rather than take any chances with Strider pitching on a balky hamstring, Atlanta placed him back on the injured list, where he\u2019s remained for the past month.<\/p>\n
Now, it appears Strider is finally poised to take his second start of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
It was reported last week that Strider was scheduled to throw a 70-to-75 pitch simulated game in preparation for his return to action, at which point the club would decide whether to send him on a short rehab assignment or activate him directly off of the injured list.<\/p>\n
It seems they\u2019ve opted to go with the latter option in order to get Strider back to the majors as quickly as possible. A disastrous 0-7 start to the season has become little more than a bad memory, as the 24-23 Braves are just four games back of a playoff spot and five games back of the Mets in the NL East.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s hardly an insurmountable deficit, particularly for a club that\u2019s hoping to get a healthy, vintage performance from Strider the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
The hard-throwing righty was among the best pitchers in baseball in his first two MLB seasons as he posted a 3.36 ERA with a 2.43 FIP and a 37.4% strikeout rate from 2022 to 2023.<\/p>\n
If he can offer anything close to that sort of a production for a rotation that already features the reigning NL Triple Crown winner in Sale and a pair of electric young arms in Schwellenbach and Smith-Shawver, Atlanta should be a force to be reckoned with moving forward this year before even considering the fact that Ronald Acuna Jr.\u2019s own return may be just around the corner or that All-Stars Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II have yet to produce offensively this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Braves optioned right-hander Bryce Elder to the minor leagues to call up southpaw Dylan Dodd earlier this weekend. The 2023 All-Star had a middling 4.50 ERA… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n