According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach will not return this season. Both have begun throwing and are hoping to throw bullpens before the end of the season, but the Braves aren’t going to rush them back with the playoffs so far out of reach.

That part is far from surprising. There’s really no reason the Braves should want either Schwellenbach or Lopez to pitch again this season. Let them rest up, get fully healthy, and hopefully, help the club make a playoff push in 2026.

The shocking part is Mark Bowman reporting Reynaldo Lopez does not want to go back to the bullpen next year.

After spending nearly a half decade as a dominant reliever, Lopez signed with Atlanta as a starter and it worked out better than anyone could have imagined. He earned All-Star honors and posted a 1.99 ERA in 2024.

Unfortunately, fatigue issues started to become a problem later in the season, and eventually, he was shutdown completely before the playoffs. Even more worrisome, those same problems carried into this year, costing him pretty much the entire season as he only made one start.

It’s understandable for a player to want a bigger role. Reynaldo Lopez is far more valuable as a starter than he is a reliever, but that only matters if he’s healthy. To this point, the bigger workload has clearly proven to be a problem.

But it doesn’t matter what Lopez wants. It matters what the Braves should do. There is no way they should be viewing Lopez as a starter going into 2026. Counting on him, or on arms like Grant Holmes, Joey Wentz, and Bryce Elder, to hold down rotation spots is a recipe for ending up in the exact same position the team finds itself in now. Atlanta has to treat Lopez as a bullpen piece and build its starting staff accordingly.