Braves pitcher Bryce Elder’s return for postseason still doubtful

Will Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder be able to pitch as soon as, say, this weekend in Los Angeles?

“I don’t know. I’m gonna give it everything I have, but I mean, also we kind of got a checklist of things that I’ve got to hit, and if the checklist is too long to get back, then I won’t be able to go,” Elder said. “Everything they got for me, (I’m going to) try to be as good as I can at it and progress as fast as I can and we’ll see how early that is.”

Elder threw batting practice to four hitters Monday at Truist Park, a day before the Braves begin the NL Wild Card Series against the rival Phillies. He hasn’t pitched for the Braves since Aug. 31, had knee surgery Sept. 8 and will not be an option this week during the best-of-three wild-card matchup.

The Braves would have to beat the Phillies twice in a three-game series to advance to the divisional round to play the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium starting Saturday.

Elder, the 27-year-old right-hander, has pushed his rehabilitation as much as possible to try to return to the team he helped get to the postseason. But after pitching Monday from the mound at Truist Park in a simulated, gamelike setting, all Elder can do is wait to see how his troublesome right knee responds to the stress.

“That’s kind of the scary part; they said that if I push it too much and it swells up, well then we just spun our wheels,” Elder said. “So you kind of gotta push it as much as possible without pushing it too far. That’s the big deal, see how it responds. But everything I’ve done, I hadn’t had any issues with it. I’ve been running and stuff, so it’s been good.”

Elder probably would have been the Braves’ No. 3 starter if this week’s series went to a third game. He went 8-8 with a 4.11 ERA in 26 starts, and was 5-3 with a 2.63 ERA through early June.

It was about then that Elder’s knee became an issue. It really flared up during a start in Pittsburgh where he couldn’t make it past four innings.

Initially, Elder thought he could power through the injury. Instead he threw a Hail Mary with knee surgery to remove bone fragments. There was no guarantee he would be able to return to pitch this season.

And he still may not, even though he has kept the arm strong since he last pitched.

“Like the first couple days, I couldn’t really like step and throw. But I think I took one day off of throwing just to kind of keep my shoulder going,” Elder said. “Some of those (throws) were standing flat-footed just to keep the shoulder going. But I’ve been throwing quite a bit.

“I think out there (Monday) I threw 23 pitches. And then the long-toss and threw a bullpen. I think the knee will be ready to go as long as everything syncs up with the shoulder and all that.”