Bryce Cason Elder (born May 19, 1999) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). Elder played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

and was drafted by the Braves in the fifth round of the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2022. Elder was named to his

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

game in 2023.

Amateur career

Elder began playing baseball as a child, but stopped to focus on golf by his fifth grade year, to free up his weekends from travel team baseball activities. As a freshman at Decatur High School in

Decatur, Texas Decatur is the county seat of Wise County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,538 in 2020. History Wise County was established in 1856, and Taylorsville (in honor of Zachary Taylor) was made the county seat. Absalom Bishop, an early s ...

, Elder considered returning to baseball, but the coach at the time would not permit Elder to play two spring season sports. A new baseball coach, hired before Elder's sophomore season, agreed to Elder's request to play baseball and golf. Elder also played basketball. After graduating from high school, Elder played

at the

, and was 10-6 with a 3.42 ERA. In 2019, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

Professional career

Elder was drafted by the

in the fifth round of the

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

, and signed with the team for $850,000. Elder made his professional debut in 2021 with the

Rome Braves The Rome Emperors are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2023, the team wa ...

and was promoted to the Double-A

Mississippi Braves The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they were referred to locally, were a Minor League Baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, from 2005 to 2024. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and competed in ...

and the Triple-A

Gwinnett Stripers The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia ...

during the season. On July 10, 2021, Elder threw a combined no-hitter with Daysbel Hernandez. Over 25 starts between the three teams, Elder went 11–5 with a 2.75 ERA and 155 strikeouts over innings. On April 12, 2022, Elder was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time to make a spot start. He faced the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

that night, pitching innings, and earned a win. He was optioned to the

on May 1. He was recalled on August 13 to face the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

in another spot start the next day. On September 26, Elder threw a complete-game shutout against the

, becoming the first Braves' rookie pitcher to do so since Paul Marak during the 1990 season. For the 2022 regular season, he pitched 54 innings to a 2–4 record with a 3.17 ERA. In 2023, after impressive spring training performances by

Jared Shuster Jared Craig Shuster (born August 3, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Wake Forest University. The Atlanta Braves selected him in the first ro ...

and Dylan Dodd, Elder was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to begin the regular season. After one start in Triple-A, he was called up to make his season debut on April 5, which he won. At midseason, Elder was selected for the first time as a reserve starting pitcher for the National League in the

2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 93rd Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB). The game was played on July 11, 2023, and was broadc ...

. In 2024, Elder began the season in Triple-A Gwinnett after not being able to secure the fifth spot in the Braves rotation. On April 22, Elder was called up to the Braves' roster to replace Darius Vines. In 10 starts for Atlanta, he struggled to a 2-5 record and 6.52 ERA with 46 strikeouts across innings pitched. Elder was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to begin the 2025 season. He was recalled on March 31 in place of

Reynaldo López Reynaldo Starling López Kely (born January 4, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2016, and has also played for the Chi ...

Pitching style

Elder throws five pitches: a sinker, four-seam fastball, slider, changeup and curveball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elder, Bryce 1999 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Texas Gwinnett Stripers players Major League Baseball pitchers Mississippi Braves players National League All-Stars People from Decatur, Texas Rome Braves players Sportspeople from Wise County, Texas Texas Longhorns baseball players Wareham Gatemen players