Reynaldo López is finally on the road back.
The Braves right-hander, sidelined since July 30 with left knee inflammation, is slated to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday, August 23. That outing comes on the final day of Gwinnett’s six-game series against the Durham Bulls at Gwinnett Field.
Atlanta’s injury situation forced López out after his knee issue flared up, opening the door for Martín Pérez to make what was arguably his best start of the season on 90 minutes notice nearly a month ago. An MRI shortly after López went down showed no structural damage, and now he’s close enough to a return that the Braves are sending him to the Stripers to get back into game shape.
Gwinnett announced the assignment in a press release, noting that López has been on Atlanta’s 15-day Injured List since July 30. In 24 games with the Braves this season, including 11 starts, the 32-year-old is 4-3 with a 3.64 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and .245 BAA.
This will be López’s second rehab stint with Gwinnett. He previously pitched one rehab start for the Stripers on August 13, 2024 against Norfolk while working back from right forearm inflammation. That outing ended with no decision after 4.0 innings, six hits, three runs, three earned runs, one hit batter, one walk, and four strikeouts.
Over an 11-year major league career that has taken him through Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Atlanta, López owns a 51-57 record with a 3.91 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, .243 BAA, and six saves in 292 games, including 134 starts. He was named to the National League All-Star Team with the Braves in 2024, when he went 8-5 with a 1.99 ERA across 26 games, 25 of them starts.
Even with the interruptions, López has still given Atlanta useful innings when available. His 3.64 ERA and 4.32 FIP this season point to a pitcher who has stayed effective enough to matter, even if the numbers don’t come close to the peak he reached during that 2024 All-Star run.
For the Braves, the next step is simple: get López through the rehab assignment cleanly and work him back into the staff for the stretch run.
In Other News...
Braves Bullpen Squeeze Could End A Veteran Relievers Atlanta Run
The Braves bullpen shuffle took another turn when Tyler Kinley was designated for assignment and then released after clearing waivers, a move driven by the clubs need to recall AJ Smith-Shawver and settle into a six-man rotation. For Atlanta, it was another reminder of how quickly roster math can change when pitching depth and workload management become part of the daily equation.
Kinleys departure leaves open a familiar question for a veteran reliever who spent time in Atlanta: whether the door is still open for a return, or whether another team will jump in first. A minor league deal with the Braves remains possible, but for now his next stop is unsettled, and the bullpen squeeze that pushed him out may not be the last roster decision tied to the rotation plan. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Are Paying For Offseason Mistakes In All The Wrong Spots
The Braves spent the winter trying to patch together a roster that already had a few pressure points, and the early returns have shown how thin the margin was. Atlanta did not add the kind of impact starting pitcher that can steady a staff over a long season, and the move to commit money to Ha-Seong Kim on a one-year deal has left the club trying to justify value in places where it needed cleaner answers. Add in the continued absence of a true right-handed outfield presence, and the roster construction starts to look less like a plan and more like a series of bets.
Those choices have become even more noticeable because the bullpen has not been able to cushion the mistakes. Injuries have complicated the relief mix, and the underperformance from multiple arms has left the Braves without much room to hide when games start tilting the wrong way. For a team built to contend, the frustration is not just what went wrong in the offseason, but how those misses are showing up in the exact spots where Atlanta needed stability the most. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Lineup Debate Is Putting Sean Murphy In The Spotlight
The Braves lineup choices have started to draw extra scrutiny, and Sean Murphy is right in the middle of it. Atlanta has leaned on Jim Jarvis at shortstop instead of Mauricio Dubon, while Murphys role has remained more limited than some around the club would prefer. For a lineup trying to squeeze out every bit of offense, those decisions have become part of the bigger conversation about how the Braves are deploying the roster.
Murphys track record is part of why the discussion keeps circling back to him. When healthy, he has shown the kind of production that makes him look like more than just a part-time catcher, and the argument for getting him into the lineup more often is hard to ignore. The question now is whether Atlanta keeps handling things this way, or whether the recent debate pushes the Braves toward a setup that better matches their offensive ceiling. [Read more 🡒]