Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Saturday that Elder will compete with Reynaldo Lopez and AJ Smith-Shawver for the fifth spot in the rotation, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

While he should probably be considered the favorite to land the fifth starter job, Elder no longer appears guaranteed a rotation spot following Atlanta's acquisition of Chris Sale. The 24-year-old collected a 2.97 ERA in 18 first-half starts in 2023 but stumbled to a 5.11 ERA in 13 outings after the All-Star break. A 49.9 percent groundball rate helps, but Elder's 17.5 percent strikeout rate leaves a lot to be desired.