I’ve come to think of Bryce Elder the last couple of years as Chunky Woody Harrelson. Not fat, just broad-shouldered with a full, kind face. I have noticed this season that he’s added the beard. He does appear to be slimmer. As a blogger with a terminal case of dad bod, I know how helpful it can be to add facial hair to appear more svelte. Or at least it can hide the soft jawbone.
On the left is 2025 and right is this season in Spring Training. The uniforms are different, but you can get an idea.
For what it’s worth, I think he’s down maybe 5-10 pounds. He looks more like a younger Rick Sutcliffe now than a Chunky Woody Harrelson.
He might be down a few pounds, I don’t know. But one thing that was been streamlined last night was his delivery. It’s tougher to see in Baseball Savant or other MLB Media clips. Bryce has this annoying habit of moving faster to the plate on some throws and slower on others. Specifically:
- A near quick pitch approach. Barely comes set, then throws the ball.
- A more labored start to the windup, then releases to the plate.
- A third speed which is somewhere in between.
However last night, I didn’t see that much. His pace somewhere in between speed 1 and 3. There was no quick pitch, just a reasonably quick pace. I didn’t see him deviate until for pitch 66 of the appearance. He slowed down, had trouble retrieving his grip on the slider, and sent it way above Jonah Heim and left. He would walk Carlos Cortes one pitch later, and Jonah visited to help him lock in again. He would rally to strike out Nick Kurtz. Then he did do the labored windup deal a couple of times in the sixth. But he was much more composed all the way around. (I’m writing this overnight and Savant won’t have the individual pitch video right now. But I will try to remember to get the Cortes pitch up in the morning.)
I don’t think Bryce Elder is fixed or has found the solution to his troubles. His location was better last night especially with the four seam fastball. Although some pitches left something to be desired. He visited the zone more with the slider more than I would like. Thankfully, the Athletics couldn’t do much with him (or really anybody this year). But Bryce’s composure has improved, and he does look much more comfortable.
