MILWAUKEE — Reynaldo López and the Atlanta Braves were extremely relieved when an MRI on his right forearm came back clean, and they hope to avoid even putting the major-league ERA leader on the 15-day injured list, manager Brian Snitker said.
When López left Sunday’s start due to forearm soreness after three scoreless innings against the New York Mets, teammates feared the worst in a season in which injuries have besieged the Braves. Instead, they got the best possible news after López flew back to Atlanta from New York and had an MRI on Sunday night.
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“Everything came back good,” Snitker said Monday before a series opener at Milwaukee. “MRI was clean, and he got treatment today. So he’s kind of on that day-to-day train. We’ll just see how he is with treatment. But there wasn’t anything big, so that’s always a good thing.”
Any injury that might’ve caused the All-Star right-hander to miss significant time would’ve likely made acquiring a starter before Tuesday’s trade deadline a priority for the Braves. They already have All-Star lefty Max Fried on the 15-day IL with forearm neuritis and have been without preseason Cy Young Award favorite Spencer Strider since early May, when he made just two starts before season-ending elbow surgery.
That the Braves didn’t place López on the 15-day IL by Monday morning suggested the MRI must’ve gone well. However, there was also speculation that perhaps the Braves were delaying an announcement of a significant injury so that other teams wouldn’t know how desperate they were to get a starter before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline.
Reynaldo López MRI came back clean and he’s day-to-day, #Braves hoping they don’t even have to put him on the injured list.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 29, 2024
But that speculation was pretty much quashed when Snitker met with reporters late Monday afternoon and provided the first update on López since he left the game more than 24 hours earlier.
“He said he feels a little better,” Snitker said of López, who stayed in Atlanta after the MRI. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow when he comes in (for treatment). We didn’t put him on (the IL) because they didn’t seem to (think it necessary).
“We’ll know more later, from how he progresses over the first part of the week, and just see when he starts tossing again. But I don’t think there’s any plans, unless it keeps bothering him, to shut him down for an extended period.”
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López has a 2.06 ERA in 19 starts and 102 strikeouts with 37 walks in 104 2/3 innings. The converted reliever has pitched nearly 40 more innings than he had in any season since 2019, the last time he was a starter for a full season. The Braves have been careful all season with him and Chris Sale, 35, whose last full, healthy season was in 2017.
They’ve given them extra rest in all but two starts apiece, and are closely monitoring López to ensure he’s not fatigued or dealing with soreness. That’s why red flags went up when he reported discomfort in the forearm after three innings Sunday.
“You always worry when it’s something like forearm tenderness and all that,” Snitker said. “So it was good to get the pictures (MRI) and it’s just good to come back with nothing out of the ordinary. That tightness can be anything, really.”
With Fried expected back soon — he’s been with the team on this trip and throwing on flat ground daily — and López not expected to miss much if any time, the Braves are believed to be focused again on acquiring an outfielder before the deadline.
They seem confident enough in a rotation led by Sale, the other of their three All-Star starting pitchers, and Fried and López, especially now that rookie Spencer Schwellenbach has put together a string of convincing performances including seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball with 11 strikeouts Saturday against the Mets.
The rotation is rounded out by 40-year-old Charlie Morton, who’s not the pitcher he was in recent years but is healthy and still pitching deep in most games. The Braves have several other starters making their way back from injuries including postseason standout Ian Anderson, who has missed more than 1 1/2 years recovering from Tommy John surgery and is progressing in his rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett.
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Huascar Ynoa is in the final stages of his rehab from Tommy John surgery, and youngsters AJ Smith-Shawver (oblique) and top prospect Hurston Waldrep (elbow inflammation) should be available soon. Waldrep was reinstated from the IL on Monday and optioned to Triple A.
(Photo of Reynaldo López: Rich Schultz / Associated Press)
David O'Brien is a senior writer covering the Atlanta Braves for The Athletic. He previously covered the Braves for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and covered the Marlins for eight seasons, including the 1997 World Series championship. He is a two-time winner of the NSMA Georgia Sportswriter of the Year award. Follow David on Twitter @DOBrienATL
