Elder struck out six over 3.1 innings in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox. He gave up one run on two hits and two walks.
The right-hander made 31 starts for Atlanta last season, but he seemed to have fallen behind Reynaldo Lopez in the battle for the fifth starter spot with Opening Day approaching. Elder's performance Thursday announced that he wasn't going down without a fight though, and he did get the start in this one while Lopez entered the game in the fifth inning. Lopez hasn't been a regular starter in the majors since 2019 and hasn't thrown more than 66 innings in either of the last two seasons, so Elder could still have a leg up based on his proven ability to handle a larger workload. Through 7.2 innings this spring, the 24-year-old Elder has a superficially shaky 7.04 ERA, but it comes with a 10:3 K:BB.