The Atlanta Braves struck gold with their addition of Reynaldo Lopez last year. Everyone expected him to be a bullpen piece but Atlanta shocked everyone and placed Lopez in the starting rotation. It seemed like a long shot that he would do well after not having started games for a handful of years.
Luckily, that wasn’t the case and Lopez had arguably the best season of his career with a 1.99 ERA and 2.92 FIP over 135.2 innings (25 games started) with 42 walks and 148 strikeouts. Had Reynaldo not suffered a couple of injuries during the season, he may have started 30+ games and reached 160 innings.
Most impressively, he had great fastball velocity last season which helped with his above-average chase, whiff, and strikeout percentages. The blemishes lay with his poor walk and hard-hit rates.
His performance last season was a confidence boost for the Braves and for Lopez himself. He recently made his spring debut and looks good with his fastball already sitting around 95 mph.
Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez has an ambitious goal ahead of the 2025 season
Lopez has recently informed fans of a lofty goal ahead of the 2025 season. He has set a personal goal to reach 200 innings this year. Atlanta was careful with the right-hander last season but manager Brian Snitker says that won’t be the case this season.
“I think we did a great job of spacing him out, the extra days. I don’t know that that’ll be such a priority this year.”
Braves insider David O’Brien pointed out Lopez had his best ERA (1.52) and WHIP (0.972) when pitching on regular rest last year. What he did last year was a surprise considering how long it had been since he started games. His body will be more used to pitching that often this year so maybe that will help him being on the mound more often.
Reynaldo López, 95mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/pcwceTG9QZ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 25, 2025
I appreciate his enthusiasm of reaching 200 innings but considering his career high is 188.2 innings during the 2018 season, I’m a bit skeptical. Braves pitchers rarely reach that mark in a season. Chris Sale won the NL Cy Young pitching just 177.2 innings.
Lopez reaching 200 innings will depend on his health as well. Having a forearm issue last season provides even more doubt that the goal is achievable. Reynaldo, however, is very confident and believes he can make it happen and help lead the Braves to another winning season.
“I feel like last year was a good opportunity to establish a base. And building off that going into this year, obviously, I want to be able to build off last year to make 30-35 starts that I can this year.”
Snit says rest for Lopez won’t be as much of a priority but we all know that can change in a heartbeat. They’ll obviously monitor him closely to make sure he’s in good health and they don’t push him too hard, but fans wouldn’t count on 200 innings out of Lopez in 2025. However, it would be fun to be proven wrong.
