Lopez was sitting 3-4mph slower on his fastball in the early going, but he ramped it up later in the afternoon.

Reynaldo Lopez’s velocity was down in the early innings of Friday afternoon’s Grapefruit League exhibition, but the veteran righty did not appear to be concerned when discussing the start with the media on Saturday.

Reynaldo Lopez said he felt fine during yesterday's outing. His focus was his fastball, which accounted for 49 of his 57 pitches. Avg. velo was 93, but third-to-last FB was 94.8. This is the dead arm period and a time to work on command/movement. His velo wasn't a concern.

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) March 8, 2025

As noted, Lopez’s fastball was routinely in the low 90s to begin the exhibition but got into the usual 94-95 range in the third and fourth innings. It appears Lopez was focusing almost exclusively on his fastball — which is not uncommon for pitchers at this point in the spring — and may have been toying with velocities to work on command and location.

Lopez was hit hard by Minnesota’s lineup, although when a fastball is coming nearly every time, big league hitters aren’t going to miss it often.

Earlier in the spring, Lopez made a start where he threw very few fastballs and used off-speed pitches almost exclusively. It might just be the way he prefers to get ready for the season.

Lopez will likely make three more warmup starts before the regular season begins in San Diego. Assuming everything checks out, look for him to start the second or third game of the season for the Braves.