TODAY: López’s MRI revealed no structural damage, manager Brian Snitker told Toscano and other reporters (X link). It appears as though this is something close to a best-case scenario for López and the Braves, as Snitker said López might not miss any time due to the injury.
JULY 28: Braves right-hander Reynaldo López was removed from today’s start after just three innings and the club announced that the move was due to right forearm tightness. He’s headed to Atlanta for an MRI, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on X. Though Atlanta characterized it as precautionary and described the righty as day-to-day, it could be a notable development given the surrounding circumstances of the club.
López mostly worked as a reliever from 2021 to 2023, but Atlanta moved him back to a starting role this year, an experiment that has gone incredibly well so far. The righty came into today with an earned run average of 2.12 in 101 2/3 innings. There’s certainly a bit of luck in there, as stranding 85.6% of baserunners isn’t sustainable in the long term, but his 8.7% walk rate is close to average and his 24.2% strikeout rate is quite strong. His 3.17 FIP and 4.00 SIERA point to solid results even with a bit less luck in terms of stranding runners.
Losing that kind of performance for even a short amount of time would be less than ideal for Atlanta. The club has been sliding in the standings lately and is well back of the Phillies in the National League East. In the Wild Card picture, there are nine teams battling for three spots, within eight games of each other. Atlanta is atop that heap, but only barely.
Their rotation challenges began early on and have mounted as the season has progressed. Spencer Strider required UCL surgery in April and is out for the year. Max Fried, Huascar Ynoa and Hurston Waldrep are also on the IL due to arm issues.
Fried and Waldrep could each be coming off the IL in the coming weeks, but it would be less than ideal for López to miss any time. If he were out of the picture, the rotation core would be down to Chris Sale and Charlie Morton, at least until one of the injured guys is able to return. Sale is having a great year but is hardly a sure thing, as he is 35 years old and missed most of the previous four seasons due to injury. Morton has a passable 4.16 ERA but is 40 years old and his strikeout rate has declined for a fourth straight season. Spencer Schwellenbach has been good but has just ten MLB starts to his name so far. Reliever Grant Holmes is listed as tomorrow’s starter.
All told, the Atlanta rotation has a lot of question marks in it right now, which could perhaps impact Atlanta’s behavior in the coming days. The trade deadline is 5pm Central on Tuesday, giving the club a bit of time to figure out how aggressively to pursue starting pitching upgrades. The market could features impact names like Garrett Crochet, Jack Flaherty and Tarik Skubal, as well as guys like Erick Fedde, Yusei Kikuchi, Cal Quantrill and many more.
The club also might be looking for help at second base and the outfield due to the injuries to Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II, but the competitive balance tax might impact their approach. RosterResource pegs their CBT number at $273MM, just below the third threshold of $277MM. Going over that line would not only lead to a higher rate of taxation but would also see their top pick in the 2025 draft pushed back ten spots.
On top of this season, there’s the worry of a long-term absence. At this point, there’s been nothing to suggest the worst-case scenario is on the table for López, but an injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow/forearm will always lead to some degree of worry.
At this point in the year, a significant surgery could put the 2025 season in jeopardy for López. Atlanta is set to lose both Fried and Morton to free agency, with the latter also a candidate to retire. López is in the first season of a three-year deal and would certainly be part of the 2025 rotation mix as long as he’s healthy. If not, it would mostly consist of a 36-year-old Sale, followed by fairly unproven guys like Schwellenbach, Waldrep and others.
Atlanta would be smart to sell this year.
Why?
Slap yourself!
The Braves don’t really need any more bad luck.
They have had the worst luck this year , I really wanted the phillies & braves battle it out this year
Why we’ve seen that battle two seasons in a row and the Braves didn’t even put up a fight either time.
Better if they do nothing and limp out of the WC spot to avoid another postseason sweep.
Go find another team
@2024: The Braves didn’t get swept in either of the last two post season losses to the Phils. Whatever suits your narrative though……………………………..
I would like to at least make the playoffs than miss the playoffs lol
Their phones are gonna ring off the hook for Laureano, Duvall, Rosario, Fried and Ozuna!
No need to sell. It’s trade deadline. They have a core. Their making $. Might not be their year for a championship but they can make the playoffs and give it a go.
I love reloading the farm as much as anyone but holding a wild card spot makes it a hard sell to sell. I know man NashvilleJeffBridges doesn’t want to sell.
That’s right, absolutely no to selling Dream. Your first paragraph says it all , but they also have plenty of good mil pitching ( no to giving it up for rental garbage) that they’ll need over the next 2-4 years. Only upper level mil position players w/decent trade value are Alvarez and Baldwin. Several more ifa players in the lowest levels—too far away to provide value on the market. Best to grit it out w/what they have now even if AA doesn’t do more than a minor move at the deadline.
Prices for players are astronomical.
Prices usually go down closer to deadline. Selection does as well. But will be lots of scraps left. I love rentals. Teams are desperate to get something for them and as the clock ticks something is better than nothing. But yeah sellers have generally done well so far and should continue to for the players fans want. I am talking about getting players that I go A for Atlanta and every but Nashville Jeff is saying you aren’t my dream gm. Or nightmare gm. And all I am going to say is go look what I said about Pache not sniffing the top 100 when he has was a what top 10 20. Or how they will be just fine without Acuna. Or the Sale trade is a master class in my genius. If Atlanta wants to make the playoffs they easily can still.
There is absolutely no reason for Atlanta to sell. I want to see them ride it out, and let the chips fall where they may.
I won’t be shocked if they fall down to the third wildcard spot
I love my braves. They are only 4 starting pitchers, 3 outfielders, a shortstop, and a second baseman from making a deep playoff run.. Little bit of hyperbole there but it is not a good situation right now. Injuries happen every year and teams play through. You can look at most season though and see a team or two that has gotten snake bit like the braves have this year. Just their turn. How the team responds will tell you a lot about their mental toughness and spirit.
Lets not forget the Braves won the WS in a year which they won 88 games and were 500 at the break basically if I recall. And they lost Acuna. Adversity leads to triumph many times. The hard times are just the kindof thing that makes you take a hard look and leads to inspiration. Many times it doesn’t but I don’t feel they are any less likely to do well in playoffs this year than they were last year. Because it’s ultimately a short amount of games where anything can happen. In fact I feel like they are likely to have a big second half directly as an influence of the hard first half. Teams have ups and downs usually. One usually leads to the other. You can’t justify selling with that level of talent and a playoff berth looming. They probably lose in postseason but so will almost everyone.
This time around I think it’s too much to overcome
In fairness I think you probably would’ve thought that in 2021. That team was on shakier ground than this one imo. There really has not been any big confirmed injury to Fried or Lopez. So we are talking basically, as of now, they lost a starter (they have 2 they didnt have last year that have been great) and lost Acuna again. Albies and Harris are coming back. I just don’t see, besides potential rust, what is so different this year. I didn’t expect both Lopez and Sale to make it through the whole season. It would help to aquire a starter.
I thought that in 2021, I was convinced they should have sold at the deadline and trade a few players.
whats the phillies excuse for losing to the d’backs in the playoffs last year, up 3-2 and the d-backs are .500 this year.
This isn’t comparable to the WS run.
AA took a shot with some low risk trades and they all caught fire to work out great.
Now let’s look at this year. Who is he going to bring in? A 2B? Albies timeline has him back before playoffs so that’s not a move that can be made. A 1B? You’re not going to kick Olson out no matter how bad he’s playing. CF? Harris coming back too. Corner OF? Well he’s already done that with Duvall and Rosario. Catcher or 3B? Not gonna replace either of them.
What’s that leave? A pitcher I guess? Not sure what kind of boost that would be with Fried, Sale, and Morton all there… and before today Lopez too. So you could bump Schwellenbach but honestly he’s had moments where he’s looked really good too.
Now we come to the pen. Yeah maybe you could add an arm… but at this point how much difference will that be if that’s the only move you can make
Really let’s stop pointing to 2021 as some sort of evidence to be buyers. It’s not the same. This team has the players it wants to have and they are underperforming severely. At best you can make a move to bring in an outfielder if you wanted to replace Duvall. But whoever they “buy” for that spot would be a similar type of player anyway.
No truth is there’s nothing to be done. The most likely situation is the guys who are supposed to be producing will continue underperforming the rest of 2024 and they’ll either sneak in as WC 3 and be eliminated in 2 games or they’ll fall out entirely and miss the playoffs.
The fact that you consider Duvall and Rosario as pieces blocking a further move is more than puzzling. They have all kinds of places to improve. Their shortstop isn’t hitting. They have 2 everyday outfielders with sub-600 OPS (Duvall may have passed it yesterday…idk). So an outfielder and a SS would be options. Duvall, Laureano, and Rosario have no firm foundation on this team. Any could be cut any day for a replacement.
@rishi: Definitely agree on Rosario and Duvall. Laureano is serviceable as 4th/5th of type.
AA has pulled rabbits out of a hat before, but there too many rabbits needed this time.
@Letsplaytwo: Good thing rabbits are so………prolific.
Why is that the first post in every important article on MLBTR is some asinine comment that derails the comments section?
Because there are idiots all over the world. They just sit here and wait for a new article so they can dazzle us with their wit. They just start typing with no real thought put into it at all. They’re everywhere.
I find the high-brows more a nuisance than the merely ignorant personally. The website is open to all. We must accept the world we live in.
At this point, nothing AA does would surprise me. Sell a few pending FAs to restock the farm? Buy a few pieces and hope for the best? Or hold and hope to sneak in with late-season returns by Albies, Harris, Anderson, and Smith-Shawver (even Ynoa)?
Had they lost the past two games, selling would make sense. Now … who knows?
Restocking the farm wouldn’t hurt, though.
AA’s a smart guy. I do believe he would consider it. Perhaps standing pat is their best option.
IL Fried? Ozuna’s going to have his option picked up, so you can’t be referring to him. Morton neither knowing he’ll most likely retire. Maybe AJ Minter, but I can’t think of anyone else worth mentioning going to FA.
It’s not all about the World Series. Getting in is exciting. Being in a race is exciting. Having a playoff series is exciting. Having even a miniscule chance is. Everyone is too all or nothing nowadays. Sell because you aren’t likely to win the WS? Well I guess everyone should sell every year right? Honestly I don’t even care about the playoffs as much as the regular season.
I agree, Rishi, too often there is an all or nothing mentality. I’m not saying it’s likely, but it’s possible Max and Lopez *could* be back in no time, a hitter or two gets blazing hot… in a short series, that’s all you need. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t. I’ll be happy if the Braves win it all, and fine if they don’t. The absolute only thing that would upset me is if they sold in the middle of a championship window
They are leading the wildcard
Yeah by like a half game. One loss puts them out of the lead.
It would be a pretty bad signal to fans if they sold. However, it’s not such a bad idea with limitations. They could probably get a king’s ransom for Ozuna and Sale, both of whom only have option years remaining (team option for Ozuna, a very likely vesting option for Sale). Maybe even a decent return for d’Arnaud, who only has a team option year left as well. In other words, they could get some great prospects while leaving the core in place. Fried would net a great return as well, provided of course that they’re not going to re-sign him.
Of course, they could just keep all of those players, get healthy in the offseason, re-sign/replace Fried, and be great again next year. Again, it’s not something any team ever does, but I could see how the Braves could make it work. Feels weird to even entertain the thought considering that they’re in the thick of the race, but they’ve been mediocre for a few months and crushed with injuries.
What would 2 months of an injured Max Fried bring back that’s worth more than the comp draft pick they’ll get when (if) he doesn’t re-sign? Nothing. No team is giving up anything worthwhile for a pitcher on an expiring contract that may not pitch again this season. At the very least, Fried won’t pitch before the deadline because he’s still on the IL. No way for another team to judge his effectiveness. Sale is under contract next season w/a team option for 2026. Don’t believe the Braves would consider dealing 2 plus guaranteed contract years of their most effective starter. They need him and Lopez to be healthy to anchor what looks to be a very young rotation next year.
A) I forgot Fried was injured but he’s supposed to be back in a week or two. You could definitely get something of value for him. Better than a comp pick, too, since he’s an ace-level pitcher. I also could be wrong but I believe the Braves are past the CBT threshold so their comp pick would be worsened.
B) lol, forgot Sale re-worked his contract. I was looking at his Red Sox contract, my bad. But I don’t really agree with this “Don’t believe the Braves would consider dealing 2 plus guaranteed contract years of their most effective starter”. He has an *extensive* injury history and isn’t getting any younger. This is the most innings he’s pitched since 2019. I don’t think the Braves can bank on him being fully healthy over the next two years. There’s a real argument to be made that they should sell high.
I agree with you that they shouldn’t sell, but if they did sell, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world going forward.
@rct – So ATL trades Fried while on the IL (he’s not due back until after the Deadline) with arm trouble rather than take the comp pick? ATL is too proud of a franchise to allow him to leave like that when they’re barely holding on to a wild-card spot the year they were favorites to be in the WS. If nothing else, it’s bad optics.
Also, Chris Sale — if we know that ATL will not re-sign Fried and Strider’s return sometime in ’25 with Morton possibly hanging it up — do you really think they’ll boot contending the next 2 years (with presumably healthy talent) at some even decent prospect return that most likely won’t help them much in the near-term? Sale has a serious shot at being a Cy finalist and he’s controlled through ’26. ATL is fine with the risk because of the presumed discount. They don’t mind the dented canned good if it’s a dollar off. Heck, they might prefer it, if you’re taking notice of how many of their draft picks have undergone TJS already. Also, though Sale doesn’t have a NTC (ATL doesn’t do that) – ATL doesn’t extend guys without some kind of agreement that they’re not going to deal them away. If AA turns around and deals Sale less than a year after an extension (even a small one like Sale got), he’s going to have a harder time extending guys in the future. Not saying it wouldn’t happen, but I’m saying you need to consider that AA would need to be blown away by a package to be able to deal with any presumed fallout.
Frankly, outside of Minter, I don’t see them having any short-term guys of value to other teams.
The idea of Atlanta selling anyone is best left to the smooth brained to ponder. It’s not happening. They’re in a multi-year championship winning window. Where’s Fried going? The only teams that don’t have punitive luxury tax penalties are like the M’s and the Brewers.
Man, I was thinking the same thing. They’re dropping in the standings and could now be out 5 high-caliber players for the year. I would be shocked if they sold, but it might be a better idea to go the other way.
As a phillies fan I hate seeing the braves go through all of these injuries this year a shame.
You wouldn’t be “virtue signaling” would you?
Don’t give me that bull squeeze. You like having no competition and you’re sour that you won’t have your playoff opponent to beat up on
phillies are just a harper and trey turner injury away from a trully awful filly team.
The Phillies were like 14.5 games behind Atlanta last year and didn’t win anything meaningful.
The Braves needed 2 starters BEFORE this injury already. No sense of trading away prospects now given all these injuries. Regroup for next year.
Idk man.Even if Lopez went down for good this year they still have a killer 1-2 in rotation and a very good young pitcher with two others looming who could impact late season/postseason. I think Braves fans are just expecting 100 wins a year. The injury bug was terrible last year too. And in 21 when they won WS.
You have to get to the dance before you set your dance card.
Well of course. The fangraphs Gods have them at an 80% chance to make postseason. I mean I think everyone feels it’s likely. Not a given tho. I’m merely projecting forward.
@inkstainedscribe — They’ve dealt with a ridiculous amount of injuries to stars and other stars with prolonged slumps…and still are in position to make the playoffs with a current bottom-4 in the order batting .220 or lower (3 lower than .200 inc. Nacho in his cup of coffee). My point — they’re either incredibly resilient or it’s much easier to get into the playoffs for talented, but beleaguered teams than it used to be.
The margin for error or slippage is a lot lower than it was before Lopez’s injury, even if it’s a short IL stay.
Seen teams get extraordinary rash of injuries before. What ATL is enduring is one of the worst bugs
I had my doubts that He would hold up all year as a starter. The Sox might be dumb but they even had the foresight to keep him in the pen. I hope I’m wrong because the kid can pitch.
Two games back lopez gave up the most runs he has all year. Four runs, not a bad worst game. Problem was this coincided with a velocity drop. Fastball was down to 90-91 on several occasion when i had not seen him dip below 94 much at all. He threw a few more low 90s pitches today, iirc his last one was encouraging 96 or so. He looked like he needed a break last week and may have pitched himself into an injury today. Normally a pitching coach is all over a velocity drop but the braves coach has been away dealing with family issues so that may have been missed.
Close to double amount of innings pitched this year when comparing to each of the past 3 seasons. Ouch. He hasn’t thrown a lot of innings since 2019.
Mr. Anthopoulos, there’s a Scott Harris on the phone. Should I put him through?
Bang on. Flaherty was a fit even before this happened.
Tyler Anderson? Send him over Peary!!
Ruh roh!
Tons of starters available still. They can go for the bigger names and still be a world series contender or go dirt cheap and call the Pirates for Gonzales and Perez and still make the playoffs. A couple of rental bats really improves the offense.
It’s a huge blow but nothing they can’t overcome.
Pirates want a outfielder with control. Do a 3 way and get the Pirates that and they could have a combination of the veteran lhp Falter Priester Chapman and some pirates prospects to reload the farm. They have a good relationship with Oakland. Booker is more valuable to the Pirates as anyone as they would have no problem with him in outfield.
Time to bring home Braves legend Marco Gonzales.
Braves are getting beat up by the injury bug worst than any team I’ve ever seen in history. And those that are or were healthy, weren’t/aren’t remotely playing well. It’s hard to watch
Please trade Fried
Please extend Fried for 40 years and 1 billion dollars!
See how annoying ridiculous comments are?
@Trade: Nobody’s giving up anything for an injured pitcher w/2 months left on his expiring contract. Doesn’t matter how many times you post that. Didn’t make sense before, makes even less now.
The original post was fine and anyone stating it derailing the entire comment section is the real problem. Is aid this during the Wall DFA comments, the Braves need to sell, but no, that does not mean rebuild.
They have long term contracts on most of their core. You don’t move that unless you get a great deal. What you move are the BP arms, fringe vets, and anything else you will likely sign pieces for in the offseason. Essentially, you are buying prospects.
Why? If you have a 4-5 year window potentially, you have to realize when one year isn’t in the works and use that to stock up on youth, as most other years you will need that youth to trade for the final pieces. One game last week the Braves started 6 guys hitting below .220, and these are not defensive stalwarts or speed threats.
I would honestly be listening in on everyone. I mentioned they should move Lopez and Sale as they are building up big innings totals and could have gotten big returns. Now one is down. Fried is a FA. Rosario, Duvall, Arcia, D’Arnaud could all get some returns. Almost every bullpen arm would bring back good prospects as the bullpen is about as good as it gets. They could use this questionable year to rebuild the farm without impacting future chances too much.
I’m going to vehemently disagree with you.
Why undercut any chance you have this year to add some marginal prospects? No one is giving you anything of value for Rosario, Duvall or Arcia. TDA might net you a little something, but still.
And the absolute, very last thing you do is move pitching, no matter the return. You can’t go into ’25 potentially having to fill 4 rotation spots. An innings eater is 12m on the market, so you’re spending well north of 50m on starters, without mentioning the difficulty of having to actively compete for those starters.
I understand if people don’t want to see them buy. I have no issues if they stand pat. Can’t sell, though.
Vehemently might not be a strong enough word………….
There are plenty of players available who are cheap enough to keep the Braves under the luxury cap, affordable enough to be traded for without giving up the farm, and good good enough to make the active roster much better. Amed Rosario and Zack Littell become a starting 2B and insurance starting pitcher, and Lane Thomas, Jake Cave, and Jesus Sanchez overhaul the outfield.
Be interested in a couple of Thomas, Sanchez, or Bryan De La Cruz..
When does it end for Atlanta? Insane. And they’re still a playoff team.
Good thing John Henry is not a serious owner and handed the Braves Sale for free
They suck drafting anyway so what’s ten spots? Just swapping one bad pick for another.
LOL…how’d they acquire Strider, Harris II, Schwellenbach, AJSS, Waldrep, Minter? Just a year ago they had 1-2 in NL RoY voting. They’re track record is better than most developing, though they’ve definitely had their fair share of misses in the recent 1st rounds, but made up for it in later rounds.
Don’t pay attention to that guy DMC. He posts the same negative garbage at BP. Spends most of his time whining about what “Braves fans on FaceBook are saying.” If not that, he’s talking about how he hasn’t watched Braves games in years.
Looks like AA will be shopping in the Starting Pitcher aisle the next couple of days
As a White Sox fan, I’d like to offer Fedde and Crochet to AA!
Better hurry and trade for a pitcher before they get gone.
Braves should get erick fedde and michael kopeck from the white sox for two a ball players.
Why did this happen? His Grip,Tilt, or wrist action was not right throwing the Football Slider.
Who know’s the On center grip, Throw like Football, Stiff wrist better than Roger Beshens Football Slider?
Nobody. Contact him he was just in the Dbacks Clubhouse recently.
XFINITY COMCAST REACH DEAL WITH BALLY SPORTS
We’re all day to day
Braves getting Soler and L Jackson from SF!