Reynaldo López will take the ball for the Braves on Saturday in opposition to the Royals, the crew knowledgeable reporters, by way of Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Structure. He’ll be reinstated from the 15-day injured checklist earlier than the sport. Atlanta might want to choice a pitcher to open a spot on the MLB roster.
Atlanta has been with out López for a few weeks due to shoulder irritation. That was the righty’s second IL stint in as many months. He additionally missed a few weeks in August with a minor forearm concern. It’s not particularly stunning that he’s battled some accidents down the stretch. López has taken on a big workload bounce in his return to the rotation. He has thrown 128 2/3 innings on the season, almost doubling final 12 months’s whole of 66 frames whereas figuring out of the bullpen.
Apart from the accidents, the López signing couldn’t have labored out significantly better in 12 months one. He has turned in a glowing 2.03 earned run common. Amongst pitchers with 100-plus innings, solely rookie phenom Paul Skenes (1.99) has a decrease ERA. Whereas López’s peripherals aren’t fairly that dominant, his 26.3% strikeout proportion and eight.1% stroll fee are strong or higher. If wholesome, he’d slot behind seemingly NL Cy Younger winner Chris Sale and Max Fried in a possible playoff rotation. Spencer Schwellenbach has had a incredible rookie marketing campaign and could be a superb No. 4 choice.
In fact, the Braves nonetheless have work to do in the event that they’re to get into the postseason. They beat the Royals on Friday night time to drag to 87-71. The Mets misplaced in Milwaukee, so the division rivals are tied with 4 video games apiece to play. They’ve a doubleheader set for Monday. Splitting these would make sure the Braves have the tiebreaker. Each golf equipment are a half-game again of fifth seed Arizona pending the Diamondbacks’ end result Friday night time.
