Another day, another injury concern for the Atlanta Braves, who removed starter Reynaldo López from Tuesday’s game at Washington after one inning due to right shoulder tightness.
López’s average four-seam fastball velocity was just 91.9 mph in his lone inning Tuesday, down 3.6 mph from his season average. He topped out at 93.8 with one of his 13 four-seamers in the inning.
López, an All-Star this year in his first season with the Braves and first season as a full-time starter since 2019, had a sparkling 2.04 ERA in 23 starts before Tuesday. That included a 1.96 ERA and .574 opponents’ OPS in four starts since a 3 1/2-week stint on the injured list for forearm soreness.
He had 34 strikeouts and five walks in 23 innings in those four starts before Tuesday, when he gave up a walk and hit a batter in his 25-pitch scoreless first inning before exiting.
López already has pitched almost twice as many innings (128 2/3) as he pitched in any of the past four seasons, including the last two when he was exclusively a reliever.
A Braves trainer, along with the interim pitching coach and manager Brian Snitker, all came out to visit with him at one point during the first inning Tuesday, but López assured them he was OK to finish the inning, which he did. But when the Nationals’ second inning began, it was reliever Jesse Chavez on the mound for Atlanta, not López.
The Braves are battling for one of three NL wild-card spots, and their starting pitching has kept them afloat in a season when injuries and underperforming hitters have turned what was a historically productive offense in 2023 into an erratic, middle-of-the-pack offense in 2024.
If López’s injury is significant and he’s not available for the postseason, it would be a severe blow for the Braves, who were counting on having All-Stars Chris Sale, Max Fried and López at the top of their playoff rotation.
(Photo: Jess Rapfogel / Getty Images)
