The Braves may have to make another change in a rotation that has been in constant motion all season. Reynaldo López is being considered for the 15-day injured list because of shoulder discomfort, manager Walt Weiss told reporters, and that would likely shut him down for the rest of the regular season.
Atlanta is already lining up the next arm. JR Ritchie will be recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday to start the series finale at Wrigley Field. Martín Pérez is set to take the ball tomorrow against Kevin Gausman.
The timing is rough, but it’s also familiar. Chris Sale and Grant Holmes have been the only fixed pieces in the rotation, while Pérez has settled in since earning a permanent spot in early May. Tyler Mahle gave the group a jolt after arriving at the deadline, rattling off seven strong starts, only for Bryce Elder’s surgery last week - to remove bone fragments from his right knee - to add another wrinkle.
López’s return from a left knee issue lasted just one start before the wheels came off again. The Rays tagged him for six runs in 4 2/3 innings last Wednesday, and the Cubs got to him again tonight as he allowed five runs over three innings and took the loss. AJ Smith-Shawver, who had opened the season with five MLB starts, covered the final five innings in relief.
The numbers now paint an ugly picture for López: a 4.54 ERA on the season. The season has been a grind for the right-hander ever since he was limited to one start last year before shoulder surgery.
His fastball wasn’t where it needed to be in Spring Training, improved some in April, and by the end of that month the Braves had moved him to the bullpen. As the season has worn on, the velocity has slipped again.
He averaged 92 mph on his fastball in his final start of July before going on the IL with the knee injury, climbed back to 93.5 mph last week, and sat mostly in the 92-93 range tonight. During his career-best 2024 season, the heater lived close to 96 mph.
If López does go on the IL, his regular season is over and he would miss the Wild Card Series, which starts September 29. The Braves still hold a comfortable 4.5-game lead over the Phillies in the division, but they’re now 3.5 games back of the Dodgers for the No. 2 seed. At the moment, the more likely outcome is Atlanta finishing as the No. 3 seed and hosting the final National League team in the Wild Card Series.
Even if López had stayed available, he probably wasn’t going to get a postseason start in that round. If Atlanta doesn’t have a shot at the first-round bye in the final weekend, Sale is expected to start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. Mahle looks like the clear choice for Game 2, with Holmes likely lining up for Game 3 if the series goes that far.
That would leave the Braves leaning hard on a bullpen that has more question marks than it did earlier in the year. Robert Suarez hasn’t appeared in a game since late June, though he’s been throwing bullpen sessions and is hoped to be ready for October.
Dylan Lee has the résumé, but he hasn’t been sharp for most of the last two months. That may put a lot on 21-year-old Didier Fuentes, an electric rookie who could be the club’s most dependable bridge to Raisel Iglesias in the postseason.
In Other News...
Braves Face One Tough October Roster Call After Latest Injuries
With 12 regular-season games left, the Braves are already mapping out the postseason and the latest injuries have forced another look at how that October roster might take shape. Bryce Elder and Lane Thomas both changed the calculus, and the updated projection now reflects a team trying to balance familiar everyday pieces with enough flexibility to survive whatever the playoffs ask of it.
Behind the plate, Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy are both in the picture, while the infield group still centers on names like Matt Olson and Ha-Seong Kim. The pitching staff has also shifted, with Ray Kerr stepping in for Elder, and the remaining spots have become a real puzzle of fit and function, including depth players who can pinch-run or pinch-hit when the game tightens and every decision carries more weight. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Face A Tough Bullpen Call As Robert Suarez Nears Return
Robert Suarez is moving closer to a return after getting through live batting practice, a promising sign for a Braves bullpen that could use another late-inning arm as the season tightens. His recovery from an elbow injury has kept him on the shelf, but the ramp-up has at least given Atlanta a clearer picture of when it might get one of its more important relief pieces back in the mix.
Suarezs timeline now comes with a roster decision attached, and that is where things get tricky for Atlanta. Adding him back should strengthen the bullpen, but it also forces the Braves to weigh pitching depth against the need to keep enough arms available, with relievers like Bailey Falter potentially feeling the squeeze as the club sorts out how to enter a critical stretch of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Braves International Class Looks Better Than That Ugly DSL Record
The Dominican Summer League record was ugly, but the Braves have reason to look past it. Atlantas 2026 international class included several young players who flashed enough ability to make the organizations long view a little more encouraging, even as the group as a whole finished near the bottom in both run production and run prevention. Jose Nelo, Sherrintley Da Costa Gomez, Jose Manon and Jorwin Pulido were among the signings who gave scouts something to keep tracking.
Pulido, in particular, stood out by earning a midseason jump to the Florida Complex League and then handling the higher level better after the move. The kind of year the Braves got in the DSL is rarely pretty, but individual progress matters most at this stage, and the early returns suggest this class may be better than the final standings make it look. [Read more 🡒]