On Tuesday, Braves pitcher Reynaldo López threw a bullpen session at about 80%. He felt great.
Could he be activated this weekend?
“The decision isn’t mine,” López said Wednesday through interpreter Franco García. “So, whatever the team wants to do, obviously it’s their call. But if you’re asking me how I feel, I feel like I’m ready to go out there. I feel like I could go out there today if needed.”
López, who is on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, can be reinstated as soon as Thursday. But the Braves and Mets are postponed to Monday because of Hurricane Helene.
Thus, it remains unclear when López will return. Braves manager Brian Snitker on Wednesday said that’s one of a few topics the Braves will discuss over the next day. On Friday, they begin a three-game series with the Royals, which will precede Monday’s doubleheader with New York at Truist Park.
López said he’s willing to help the team however he can – whether that’s in the rotation or out of the bullpen. If he were to make a start, he wouldn’t need to face hitters before then.
“I don’t think so, just because the time between the last outing hasn’t been as much as the first time (on the injured list),” López said. “So I don’t think enough time has passed to say, ‘Oh, you’ve gotta face some live hitters.’ That also has to do with how good I felt in the bullpen, which was really good. I don’t think we’d have to wait for that.”
López last pitched Sept. 10 in Washington. He felt shoulder tightness and exited after one inning. Earlier this season, he spent three weeks on the injured list with right forearm inflammation.
He could be important for the Braves’ plans in the final five games. It would seem possible that López could start one of the games in Monday’s doubleheader, which would allow the Braves some flexibility in how they set up Chris Sale, Max Fried, Spencer Schwellenbach and Charlie Morton. Grant Holmes has started twice in place of López, and could do so again. Snitker said he didn’t know how stretched out López would be.
On Monday, the teams might not even need to play the doubleheader. Arizona entered Wednesday a half-game ahead of the Braves, and if the Diamondbacks keep losing, both the Braves and Mets could be ahead of them by the end of the weekend.
This much is clear: López feels ready to return whenever the Braves believe he’s healthy enough to do so.
In 2024, López has a 2.03 ERA over 128-2/3 innings. He hasn’t logged this many innings since throwing 184 in 2019.
Could the shoulder inflammation have been because of his workload?
“Maybe it had something to do with the workload and the innings, and maybe it didn’t,” López said. “It could be just a specific outing, it could’ve been a specific pitch, it could be something we don’t know about. So, I guess I’m not really focusing too much on that. I’m just excited to be feeling good and to get back out there and help the team.”
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