St. Louis Cardinals trade packages for recently demoted players

RHP Bryce Elder

Bryce Elder is probably the best player out of this bunch who was demoted. He was sent down on May 20th after being roughed up the day before. He threw just 3 innings and allowed 7 runs, 6 earned, on 9 hits. Elder struck out 3 and walked 3.

Last year, Bryce Elder was a key cog to the Atlanta Braves' success. He threw 174.2 innings with a 3.81 ERA, 4.42 FIP, and a 1.28 WHIP. Elder was selected to attend his first All-Star game as a result of his efforts. The underlying metrics, however, weren't as kind to the second-year pitcher. Elder had a K rate of just 17.5%, and batters hit .242 against him. He allowed a high percentage of line drives (20.4%), and the majority of hits against him went to the pull side, a recipe for disaster.

This year has been a struggle for Elder. He made 5 appearances prior to his demotion, and he had a 6.46 ERA, 5.38 FIP, and his K% minus BB% was just 7.1%. He was allowing home runs at nearly double the rate he was last year, and his 16.7% home run to fly ball ratio was much worse than league average.

Elder is a groundball pitcher, so he relies heavily on his breaking balls. Last year, batters hit just .210 against his slider and .280 against his sinker. The script has been flipped this year, and batters are hitting .381 and .365 against them, respectively. He is allowing hard contact at a much greater rate.

Elder is still just 25, and he's shown an ability to be a solid starting pitcher, albeit not one who can lead a staff. He won't strike out the side often, but he also won't hurt himself with walks and fly balls, hopefully. It will take a bit more to land Bryce Elder, especially considering the savvy that the Atlanta Braves organization has.

Cardinals trade: Lars Nootbaar
Braves trade: Bryce Elder & Spencer Schwellenbach