NORTH PORT, Florida — Dominican Reynaldo López may not remain in the Braves’ rotation throughout the regular season. But he will begin the year as Atlanta’s fifth starter.
“We have to start somewhere and we have to be very aware of our depth in the rotation,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Last night we were talking for a long time, going over this. It’s about taking care of yourself as a team thinking about the season.”
As the Braves continued to groom Lopez as a starter over the past few weeks, it became clear that he was going to beat out Bryce Elder in the battle for the fifth spot. The team didn’t want to put Lopez in the bullpen and then possibly have to prepare him again to start games at some point this year.
If Lopez can provide value as a starter, now was the time for him to fill that role. The benefits of him spending some time in the rotation this year could be felt again next season, when the Braves could be looking to replace both Charlie Morton, the 40-year-old veteran, and Max Fried, who will be a free agent.
“It’s all part of having depth in the rotation,” Snitker insisted. “We used 13 starters last year and in normal years we’ve used 11. It’s just a way to keep everyone in the game.”
It would have been easy to keep Lopez in the bullpen. He posted a 3.01 ERA in 129 games (one start) over the past two seasons. But the Braves saw his potential as a starter when they gave him a three-year, $30 million contract this winter.
Lopez posted a 4.65 earned run average in 65 starts with the White Sox from 2018 to 2019. He wasn’t as effective during the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020 and then began the transition to the bullpen. The 30-year-old pitcher believes the aggressive mentality he developed as a reliever should benefit him during this next phase of starting games.
Lopez passed his final test by completing five innings in hot, humid conditions against the Red Sox on Sunday. Each of the four runs he has allowed in 16.2 innings this spring have come courtesy of a solo home run.
“Two starts ago, he said his legs felt very heavy,” Snitker mentioned Monday. “That’s part of the conditioning process. He said he felt great yesterday.”
As Lopez adjusts to the starting role, he may see an increase in his fastball velocity. His fastball has hovered between 94 and 96 miles per hour during his last few outings. This is in line with the 95.4 mph average velocity he generated with his fastball as a starter in 2019.
That same fastball averaged 98.2 mph when he worked out of the bullpen last year.
“I’ve had some good performances,” Lopez said. “I feel like my fastball and breaking pitches are good. The location of my fastball is good. “I feel like I’m ready for the season.”
Source: MLB
2024-03-19 09:12:18
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