Bryce
Elder

2020 DRAFT: The hard-nosed junior righthander has several attributes that pro organizations love. Elder has excellent makeup and a hard-nosed approach- nothing seems to rattle him. He also has a very consistent approach and delivery. What you see from Elder one night is pretty much what you're going to get every time he takes the mound. Elder's stuff has gotten better as he has matured at Texas. The fastball will range anywhere from 91-93 mph, and he commands the offering to both sides of the plate. His cutter is in the 86-87 mph range and is a deadly offering against right handed hitters, while his 85-87 mph changeup has improved with each year of experience. Elder primarily attacks hitters with the fastball and cutter combo, while he also shows excellent feel for the changeup. With a 5.55 ERA his first season with the Longhorns, he showed marked improvement as a sophomore last season. In 2020, he had established himself as one of the nation's premier pitchers. If history is any indication, Elder is a safe bet at the next level and a likely top three round pick this summer.

2/28/20: Elder, listed at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, looked very good outside of a couple of pitches. His sinker has turned into a power sinker this year that was 92-94 mph and got plenty of swings and misses. He commanded it on both sides of the plate. He also threw a slider ranging from 82-87 mph, flashing sharp, sweeping action that generated swings and misses as well as landing it in the strike zone. Elder had ten strikeouts in 6.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks. (T King)

8/21/19: Reached his innings limit early in the summer, making his last appearance on June 23, but not before he displayed top of the scale competitiveness and makeup. With a 90-92 mph fastball and tremendous feel for several different versions of his breaking ball where he adds/subtracts and varies the shape (mostly 73-74 mph CB and 78-80 mph power slurve), Elder pitched just 8.2 innings and struck out 10. His mature body type at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds may work against him a little in the draft, but he’s strong as a bull. As a Friday night starter with strong performance in the Big 12, a selection early during Day Two is not out of the question. (Seifert)

3/9/19: Despite the results (2.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO), his undoing was more poor defense and the inability to establish his armside fastball which would allow his slider to play up. His raw stuff was good. Fastball had good life (cut and sink at times) at 90-92 mph delivered from a high three-quarter slot with good arm action. He was aggressive and worked quick. His best pitch was a slider/cutter that flashed plus at 85-86 mph and showed the ability expand to his gloveside with it. When used as a finish pitch, it had tight spin and the Stanford lineup had a tough time recognizing, swinging and missing often. He also showed the ability to manipulate his breaking ball into different shapes and velocities. Early in the count he would float a get me over version of his slider with a longer break at 83-84 mph and Stanford took advantage of it; a two-out RBI double to right field by Cardinal left-fielder Brandon Wulff in the first inning was one example. Elder also mixed in a curveball at 80 mph and an occasional changeup to left-handed hitters at 84. (Seifert)

10/14/18: Elder was the best of the trio on Saturday, and the only Texas pitcher to throw 2.0 innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, and struck out two. Working quickly and without much effort on the mound, Elder sat 89-92 MPH with arm-side life and touched 93 MPH. He also threw three other pitches for strikes, including a changeup that generated weak contact at 78-83 MPH; an average, 78-81 MPH curve he showed feel for commanding; and an 85 MPH cutter he once manipulated to give more slider shape. Elder’s cutter profiles as his best secondary pitch, and a plus offering at times. (McComas)