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Atlanta Braves to Bring Back Injured Pitcher For Huge Game on Saturday

As the Atlanta Braves look to punch their ticket to the playoffs, they are bring back starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez on Saturday.

Brady Farkas

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (40) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park on Sept 10.
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (40) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park on Sept 10. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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Entering play on Saturday, the Atlanta Braves are in a three-way tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets in the National League playoff picture. Those three teams are fighting for two spots.

As the Braves take on the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, they've made a big decision to re-instate starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez from the injured list.

Per Buster Olney of ESPN:

Braves going with Reynaldo Lopez on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Lopez has had a brilliant year on the mound, going 8-5 in 24 games. He's also posted a ridiculous 2.03 ERA and has struck out 137 batters in 128.2 innings. The only down part of his season has been his health, which has not allowed him a full workload on the year.

Signed to a three-year deal this past offseason, Lopez has been one of the shrewdest moves of the year. He hadn't been a starter consistently since 2021, but the Braves were able to turn him back into a successful one. He's paired with Chris Sale and Charlie Morton to help keep the Braves rotation afloat this year as Spencer Strider is out for the year with Tommy John surgery.

Furthermore, Max Fried has been in-and-out of the rotation as well.

A nine-year veteran with the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland Guardians and Braves, Lopez is 47-54 lifetime with a 3.95 ERA.

The Braves and Royals will play again on Saturday night with first pitch coming at 7:20 p.m. ET. Lopez will pitch against Seth Lugo.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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