ARLINGTON -- The Braves' entire Opening Day rotation is now on the injured list, as Grant Holmes went on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation. In what’s becoming a lost season for the Braves, it’s somewhat fitting that low point came on a Sunday.
Hours after Holmes went on the IL, the Braves dropped their fifth straight game and were swept by the Rangers in an 8-1 loss at Globe Life Field. It marked the 10th straight Sunday loss by Atlanta, which is now 3-14 on the day.
The Braves haven’t won a Sunday game since May 18 at Boston. The only teams with worse records on a single day are the Orioles on Tuesdays (2-12) and the Rockies on Saturdays (3-15).
“We’ve just got to keep going,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We're going to figure out a way and piece this thing together. That's all you can do, you know, 'cause the games aren't going to stop because we lost our rotation. We're going to keep mixing and matching and piecing games together and go from there.”
Shortly after Snitker’s remarks, the Braves made a move to address their rotation issues by acquiring right-hander Erick Fedde from the Cardinals in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta transferred Holmes to the 60-day IL.
The Opening Day rotation combined to start just 63 of the Braves’ first 104 games. On Sunday, Bryce Elder made his 17th start of the season but ran into trouble early.
The Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a bases-clearing, two-out double by Wyatt Langford in the first and tacked on two more in the second on a two-run homer by Josh Smith. Elder gave up three more runs in the third and was pulled after just 2 2/3 innings.
Elder was charged with his seventh loss of the season as his ERA ballooned to 6.29.
“I just was a little out of sync. I thought, overall, my stuff wasn’t terrible,” Elder said. “Just kind of backing myself into a corner there in the first and you can only get out of it so many times. I didn’t there. I was pretty disappointed in it. It was kind of just one of those starts.”
For the Braves, Sunday served as another painful reminder of the injury-depleted rotation and the outlook for the rest of the season.
Holmes was making his team-leading 21st start Saturday when he felt tightness in his elbow. He allowed four runs over four innings in what became a 6-5 loss to the Rangers.
Holmes joins fellow Opening Day rotation mates Chris Sale (fractured left rib cage), Reynaldo López (right shoulder inflammation), Spencer Schwellenbach (fractured right elbow) and AJ Smith-Shawver (Tommy John surgery) on the IL. López was the first to go down on March 31 after making just one start, followed by Smith-Shawver on May 29, Sale on June 21, Schwellenbach on July 2 and now Holmes.
Snitker didn’t have an update on Holmes as far as the extent of his injury, and the other four are not expected to return anytime soon. It’s been a challenging road, and Elder would have liked to ease the burden somewhat on Sunday.
Instead, he failed to get through three innings for the second time this season.
“If you’re giving up runs, at least eat innings. To not? That’s what I’m most disappointed in,” Elder said. “Those guys [on the IL] are going to be battling to get back, but we’ve got to hold it down for now.”
With the latest injury to Holmes, the Braves recalled right-handed reliever Daysbel Hernández from Triple-A Gwinnett. Hernández had two scoreless outings for Gwinnett since being optioned on July 13. He threw two scoreless innings in an appearance on July 20 and had one scoreless inning in an appearance on Thursday.
For now, though, the attention is on the rotation and the Braves will manage to get through another injury. Snitker didn’t seem overly concerned about keeping the team’s mindset positive going forward.
“I mean, that’s up to them. They’re going to have to do that as we all are in this game,” he said. “We’re professional. We’re getting paid to do this. We signed a contract, so every day, we’ve got to go out there and give it our best shot to win the game.”