ATLANTA - Reynaldo López’s trip to the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation on Saturday only sharpened the Braves’ need for starting pitching, at least from the outside.
Inside the organization, the message stayed the same. Atlanta does not sound inclined to let one more injury push it into a rash move with Monday’s trade deadline closing in.
Manager Walt Weiss put the broader picture bluntly: “We’ve been losing starters since the first day of spring training, and it hasn’t stopped,” he said.
And after the Braves dealt for outfielder Lane Thomas on Saturday night, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said López’s setback would not suddenly change the way he approaches the market.
“Whether it’s now or whether it’s mid-August, late August, I can promise you, we will have other injuries,” Anthopoulos said when asked if his front office’s trade strategy will change.
The problem for Atlanta is that the injuries are piling up fast enough to make the rotation picture look awfully thin. If the playoffs began today, the Braves would line up with Chris Sale, Bryce Elder and Martín Pérez, with Grant Holmes on the bubble.
Elder flashed like a Cy Young candidate next to Sale early, then came back to earth. Pérez has kept grinding as an aging soft-tosser, and Holmes has been serviceable.
That group, though, does not compare favorably with the kind of rotation firepower the top clubs can throw out there, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, who now have Tarik Skubal in their intimidating mix.
Atlanta’s internal depth chart offers only so much help. JR Ritchie is filling in for López after being optioned four times since his April debut, and he entered Sunday’s four-inning outing with a 14 percent walk rate. The arm is real, but the burden is heavy when a pitcher is being bounced between Atlanta and Triple-A Gwinnett while also being asked to locate against big-league hitters.
There are other names in the pipeline, but none comes with clean certainty. AJ Smith-Shawver is back after missing more than a year, though he is currently with Gwinnett.
Spencer Strider’s return remains unclear, and Weiss said July 17 that “he’s not close to being back here.” Hurston Waldrep’s elbow health is also unresolved after he was removed from his July 19 Triple-A start because of injury.
The one possible reinforcement the Braves are holding out hope for is Spencer Schwellenbach. Atlanta believes he could be back with the major-league staff in September, and he has recently thrown four bullpen sessions in Florida. He was in Atlanta this weekend to throw more in front of the coaching staff.
So yes, the Braves will add something before the deadline. That much seems certain. The real question is whether those additions amount to simple depth or something that actually changes the shape of the team.
“We’re looking to make the team better, right?” Anthopoulos said. “So, you deal with what’s available.
“Obviously we’re impacted depth-wise, (with López) right now going to (the) IL, but it doesn’t change what we’ve been looking to do. We’re looking to make the team better, right? So, you deal with what’s available, just like everything else.”
In Other News...
Braves Just Cleared Two Roster Spots For A Bigger Deadline Shift
The Braves used the deadline to shuffle the margins of their roster, dealing catcher Joey Bart to the White Sox and sending outfielder Eli White to the Red Sox in separate moves. In return, Atlanta picked up right-hander Duncan Davitt and minor league reliever Tyler Uberstine, with the latter optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, a sign these were as much about clearing space as adding immediate help.
Those openings matter because the roster is not done changing. Atlanta has a potential return behind the plate looming in Sean Murphy, and another outfield addition in Lane Thomas could soon fit into the mix as well, giving the club a little more flexibility for the stretch run. For a team trying to line up the right pieces after deadline day, the next round of moves may end up being the more interesting part of this one. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Catching Picture Is Finally Changing At The Right Time
Joey Barts brief run as Atlantas backup catcher has come to an end after the Braves and White Sox struck a trade that sends him to Chicago for rookie right-hander Duncan Davitt. Bart had been filling in behind the plate for Atlanta, but the clubs catching picture is now shifting with the roster moving toward a different look.
Davitt arrives with a little bit of big league experience already, having made two major league appearances with Chicago before the deal. For the Braves, the rookie is expected to work out of the bullpen, giving them another arm as they reshape the back end of the staff and prepare for the next step in the catching rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Take Another Rotation Gamble With Tyler Mahle
The Braves dipped back into the rotation market with another move aimed at stabilizing the back end of their staff, acquiring right-hander Tyler Mahle from the Giants for right-hander Anthony Molina. Mahle has logged 18 starts this season in San Francisco, and while the results have been uneven, Atlanta is clearly banking on a change of scenery and a different voice to get more out of him down the stretch.
Jeremy Hefner now gets the challenge of helping Mahle sharpen things up in Atlanta, where the Braves have made it a priority to keep searching for usable innings. Molina had only thrown five innings for the club in 2026, so this is the kind of deal that says the Braves are willing to keep tinkering if they think there is still a path to more reliable starting help. [Read more 🡒]