With a game 1 win in the books, the Braves maintain the top record and run differential in MLB so far this season. They will now have two chances to secure a series win over Philadelphia and the Phillies have now lost 10 straight. This is an important game for the Phillies, as their ace of the last handful of years is returning in the mound from an injury dating back to last season in Zack Wheeler.
Bryce Elder has had an encouraging start to the season and while he has cooled off a bit from what were two brilliant starts to kick off 2026, he has still been effective as a back of the rotation starter outside of the bad but not catastrophic Cleveland game. Bryce has crucially kept the walks down, but is also currently running a career high strikeout rate. He’s also been mixing his sinker and four-seamer more instead of being sinker-focused and has added a cutter to keep hitters less keyed in on his preferred fastball shape. This has been a version of Bryce Elder that can be a rotation regular as a 4th or 5th starter in MLB.
Advertisement
We all know how good Zack Wheeler has been for the Phillies in recent years, but coming back from injury firing on all cylinders is no guarantee, especially without a normal Spring Training. He also had a pretty rough final rehab start, giving up 4 runs and 2 homers over 4.0 innings, sitting lower 90s with his fastball. Wheeler seemed to acknowledge the lower 90s as the new reality for his fastball after the game, at least in the near term, discussing the need for him to be “craftier” for a while upon his return. This may not be the dominant version of Zack Wheeler we’ve come to expect and while it would be a shame for Wheeler’s career to be derailed by this injury, it would be fine with me if the Braves capitalized on him not being fully up to his best on the day today. Wheeler has been a fastball-focused pitcher with his upper 90s velocity, throwing the four-seam fastball 40% of the time, but did throw a sinker, cutter, sweeper, splitter, and curveball all meaningful percentages last season, so he should still have a deep arsenal even if the velocity has taken a hit.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, April 25, 7:15 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: BravesVision
Streaming: MLBTV
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
