The Braves were throttled by the Twins 7-1 in a game that was started by Reynaldo Lopez, who was making his third appearance of the spring. In the previous two, he was lights out, going a couple of innings in each without allowing a run. But yesterday, the Twins offense was all over him, racking up five runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk over 3.1 innings.
Given it’s Spring Training, there’s no reason to be concerned about the stat line, but there was one worrisome aspect of Lopez’s outing. His velocity was down considerably, sitting around 92-93 for most of the game and topping out around 95. That’s over 2 MPH down from where he was at last year, when he posted a 1.99 ERA over 25 starts in his first season back in the rotation after spending a half-decade as a high leverage reliever.
A lot of times, that kind of drop in velocity can mean something isn’t right physically, but Reynaldo Lopez attempted to put those concerns to bed, saying after the game that he felt fine.
https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/1898389891865604099
Given all of the injuries the Braves have suffered over the last calendar year, it’s natural for the alarm bells to ring anytime something seems slightly off. But as Mark Bowman notes, this isn’t atypical for this time of year. Pitchers are still getting into the groove of things after several months off, and oftentimes, they are working on specific aspects of their craft.
I wouldn’t pay it too much mind right now, but it is something to monitor moving forward. Reynaldo Lopez was unbelievable for the Braves last season and is such a pivotal piece to a rotation that already has some depth concerns with Spencer Strider still recovering from internal brace surgery, which has kept him out since last April.
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Photo: Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire
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