Coming into Wednesday’s outing against the Giants, Reynaldo Lopez only made one start on regular rest, but Braves skipper Brian Snitker confirmed that the veteran will not get an extra day of rest before his next start on Sunday against the Phillies in the series finale.
Lopez says he’ll pitch on regular rest on Sunday against the Phillies
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 3, 2024
“They’re going to have to [pitch on regular rest],” Snitker said. “We’ve [provided an extra day] more than we thought we were going to leaving Spring Training and it’s worked pretty well. But it’s just not a perfect thing, where they’re not going to have to pitch on [regular rest] sometimes.”
Lopez went 4.1 innings — a season-low — while surrendering four hits, four walks and allowing two runs on Tuesday against San Francisco. He showed signs of fatigue and will be making only his second start of the season on regular rest. The first came on May 25th against the Pirates, an outing in which he lasted only 4.2 innings.
Lopez hasn’t thrown more than 66 innings in the last two seasons and hasn’t been a starter since 2019. The season is grueling and long, but the Braves clearly still feel the division is within reach, despite currently trailing the Phillies by nine games.
From Mark Bowman: “Snitker acknowledged that this weekend’s division showdown is one of the reasons the Braves decided to start López on Sunday.”
The NL East isn’t over by any means, but the Phillies’ lead grows by the day. This 4th of July weekend series is a great opportunity to cut into that lead, so I have no problem with Lopez starting on regular rest.
However, depending on how this weekend and the next week or so goes, the Braves really must consider the longevity of the entire pitching staff, not just Reynaldo Lopez.
Charlie Morton has been an ironman for Atlanta but is 40 years old. Chris Sale has battled injuries for the past four seasons, and Max Fried has had his fair share of struggles on the IL.
The Braves pitching staff is the only reason they’re 10 games over .500 right now, but at a certain point, Brian Snitker should prioritize October over another division title, as painful as that might be.
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Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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