"How impressive was Bryce Elder tonight. Wow!" "You absolutely love to see it" - Atlanta Braves fans celebrate rookie Bryce Elder pitching a complete game shutout against the Washington Nationals

Atlanta Braves rookie Bryce Elder had a night to remember for the reigning World Champions. In the 8-0 drubbing of the Washington Nationals, Elder became the first Braves rookie since 1990 to pitch a complete game shutout.

Elder produced a gem by going the entire length of the game while only giving up six hits and one base on balls with six strikeouts. The rookie was awarded his second win of the year in his eighth start.

Needless to say, the Atlanta Braves fans were buzzing about the rookie's performance. The last time the Braves had a rookie accomplish such a feat, Elder was just four years old.

At the plate, Atlanta backed Elder's supreme job. Marcell Ozuna had a home run, a double, and two RBIs. Matt Olson added to this with a home run of his own and three RBIs to finish the night.

Elder now owns a 2.76 ERA with 42 strikeouts across 49 innings pitched this season. It will be interesting to see how skipper Brian Snitker handles the starting rotation for the Braves given the depth and plethora of talent that they possess.

Atlanta Braves' pitching depth

Rookie Spencer Strider was recently moved to the 15-day IL by the team after a strained oblique muscle injury. This shouldn't be a cause for concern, however, especially for Braves manager Brian Snitker.

The team has the luxury of picking whichever piece they want to insert into the lineup to add to the already dangerous quartet of Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Kyle Wright, and Jake Odorizzi.

Atlanta braved the storm without the likes of Mike Soroka and Ian Anderson in their lineup as both players were effectively taken out of the main roster due to injuries.

In terms of ERA, the Braves boast a 3.45 average that is the fifth-best across the league. In terms of strikeouts, the Braves' pitching staff is the best in the MLB with 1,489 strikeouts. The team's average bullpen-wise is even better with a 3.05 ERA.

If the team can continue with this type of clinical play on the bump, it should be easy for them to get a repeat this year.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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