Braves’ Reynaldo López Placed on IL With Right Shoulder Inflammation
The Atlanta Braves have lost another key contributor to injury, with right-hander Reynaldo López becoming the latest member to hit the injured list.
López, who departed Tuesday’s game against the Washington Nationals after only one inning, was placed on the 15-day IL due to right shoulder inflammation prior to first pitch on Wednesday. He won’t be eligible to return until September 26th, meaning he’d only have time to make one final start before the regular season ends.
Additionally, the Braves recalled fellow righty Daysbel Hernández and selected the contract of infielder Cavan Biggio from Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room, they optioned infielder Luke Williams and designated right-hander Jimmy Herget for assignment.
Following Tuesday’s shortened outing, the Braves sent López for testing on his right shoulder, all of which returned clean. As was the case involving his MRI on Wednesday, which didn’t reveal any structural damage.
The 30-year-old righty will receive a few days off before beginning a throwing progression. At that point, the team’s medical staff should gain clarity on mapping a potential timeline for his return.
Placing López on the IL leaves Atlanta with just four starters for the time being. But thanks to Thursday’s off-day, the club won’t require a fifth starter until September 17th, providing some much-needed short-term flexibility.
“We’ll go these next four and then kinda see how we get there,” manager Brian Snitker told reporters Wednesday, including MLB.com’s Joe Trezza. “Hopefully when [López’s] time is up, he’ll be back.”
All things considered, the Braves seem to have dodged a major bullet with López, who suffered a significant velocity decline on all four of his pitches Tuesday night. His fastball, in particular, was the most concerning, as it averaged 91.9 mph – down 3.6 mph from his season average.
It was the first time in 24 starts this season he failed to register at least 95 mph on the radar gun with his heater.
“I didn’t really know what was happening,” López said through team interpreter Franco García. “The first pitch went out, and I thought it was 95, and I look up and it was 89. That took me by surprise. That’s something I wasn’t expecting.”
This is López’s second IL stint of 2024 after he missed a few weeks in August with a right forearm injury. While these absences haven’t been ideal, they’ll help manage his innings total in his first season while converting from a reliever to a starter.
The 6-foot-1 hurler inked a three-year, $30-million contract – which includes a 2027 club option – with the Braves last off-season. And so far, the transition from the bullpen has been a smashing success.
López leads the majors with a 2.03 ERA out of 108 big-league starters with at least 100 innings pitched. He also owns a 3.08 FIP with 137 strikeouts across 24 starts, worth a career-high 3.1 fWAR.
Overcoming injuries has been a recurring theme for Atlanta this season, as the franchise has remained afloat despite being without stars like last season’s NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley, Spencer Strider and Ozzie Albies.
However, the injury to López couldn’t have come at a worse time, with the Braves trailing the New York Mets by a game for the final NL wild-card seed entering Thursday’s slate.
Until he returns, they’ll hope to remain in contention for that last playoff spot with a depleted four-man rotation that includes NL Cy Young front-runner Chris Sale, Max Fried, Charlie Morton and rookie Spencer Schwellenbach.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Thechased. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.