With Chris Sales seemingly unavailable for the Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Braves could delve deeper into their 40-man roster for their Game 1 starting pitcher.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com speculated that Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver or Ian Anderson could be asked to take the mound for the Braves tomorrow night.

All three of these options have experience as starters with Atlanta.

Elder, an All-Star selection in 2023, made 10 starts with Atlanta this season but struggled with a 6.52 ERA and gave up 11.6 hits per nine innings. He has made 50 career starts for Atlanta since debuting in 2022. He made a single postseason start against the Phillies last season, allowing six earned runs in 2.2 innings.

Smith-Shawver made just one start with Atlanta this year, scoring no runs in 4.1 innings in his only appearance. The 21-year-old made five starts for Atlanta in 2023 and appeared in one postseason game, allowing three solo home runs against the Phillies in 2.2 innings.

Anderson has not played for Atlanta since the 2022 season after missing last season due to injury. He spent the entire 2024 season in the minors trying to return to Atlanta. He made 10 starts with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers and also played at three other levels. Anderson debuted for Atlanta in 2020 and made 52 starts in three seasons – earning NL Rookie of the Year honors in both 2020 and 2021.

Anderson has the most postseason experience — and the most success — of the three possible starters. He started eight games with a 4-0 record, pitched 35.1 innings and allowed just five earned runs striking out 40 batters.