Braves To Activate Reynaldo Lopez On Wednesday

Reynaldo Lopez will return from the Braves’ 15-day injured list on Wednesday, as manager Walt Weiss told reporters (including Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that Lopez will start that day’s game against the Rays.  The left-hander last pitched on July 26, before a bout of left knee inflammation put Lopez on the shelf for what will end up being a six-week absence.

After injuries limited Lopez to just a single game in 2025, he has enjoyed a decent bounce-back year.  Lopez has a 3.64 ERA over 71 2/3 innings and has been very good at limiting hard contact, though his 21.6% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk rate are both under the league average.  The Braves began the year with Lopez in the rotation but moved him to the bullpen in late April so he could get on track after a couple of shaky outings.  Lopez then delivered a 3.27 ERA over 22 relief innings until his return to starting duty on June 26, and he then had a 3.86 ERA in six starts and 28 innings before landing on the IL.

His return to the rotation at this point is somewhat tactical, as the Braves are in a stretch of 22 games in a 23-day span.  The lone off-day in that busy stretch came on September 3, and Atlanta won’t get another day of rest until September 17.  By using Lopez as a starter, the Braves can stick with a six-man rotation (along with Chris Sale, Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes, Martin Perez, and AJ Smith-Shawver) to help keep everyone rested as the postseason looms.

Bryce Elder is now the odd man out of this mix, but Weiss said that Elder will temporarily move to the bullpen while he deals with a minor knee problem.  Elder hasn’t pitched since August 31 but the injury doesn’t appear to be serious enough to warrant an IL placement.  “With all the starters that we have, we’re trying to give him a bit of an extended break….There was a big part of the season where he was one of our best starters.  We want to get him back to that,” Weiss said.

Rotation injuries have been a subplot of Atlanta’s season, but Braves starters have a collective 3.72 ERA — the sixth-best rotation ERA in baseball.  Led by Sale’s Cy Young-caliber year, Mahle’s 1.24 ERA since being acquired by the Giants from the trade deadline, and at least solid work from pretty much everyone else, Atlanta has an enviable amount of starting depth available heading into October.  Even after today’s loss to the Phillies, the Braves still hold a four-game lead in the NL East, and are battling to earn a first-round playoff bye.