It’s kind of funny to think that so many thought Reynaldo Lopez was in a position battle with Bryce Elder this spring. It’s funny if you consider where we are now. If you thought that Lopez would be the Atlanta Braves best pitcher after three starts, raise your hand.
Spencer Strider is out for the year. Max Fried has had one Fried-like start in four games. Chris Sale has a 4.58 ERA in three games. After three favorable matchups against the Marlins, Mets, and White Sox, Charlie Morton has a 5.29 ERA.
Then, there is Reynaldo Lopez. A starter turned reliever turned back to starter. The Braves signed Lopez to a three-year, $30 million deal this offseason with intent on inserting him into the rotation.
As a reliever, he’s been impressive. He had mixed results as a full-time starter in 2018 and 2019. One thing is for certain, the Braves believed in Lopez’s ability to immediately make an impact as a starter.
Through three starts this season, Reynaldo Lopez has been phenomenal. He has allowed just one earned run over 18.0 innings with 18 strikeouts. He is 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. In his 18 innings he has allowed just 11 hits and six walks.
What is different about Reynaldo Lopez this year?
Opposing hitters are having trouble with the curve.
Lopez is still throwing his four-seamer about 60% of the time but three mph slower than last year. The decrease in velocity is to be expected since he moved from a reliever to a starter. He has been locating the fastball well and utilizing it effectively. Opposing hitters are batting just .216 with a .297 SLG against Lopez’s four-seamer this year.
Other than velocity, the other big change is his curveball usage. Lopez has leaned on his curveball a lot more this season. Last year, he was mostly a two-pitch reliever. He threw the fastball 64.3% of the time, the slider 29.4%, and the changeup 5.4%. He added a curveball just 0.9% of the time in 2023.
This year, he’s throwing the curveball 11.5% of the time with a 55.6% whiff rate and a .000 batting average against it.
Reynaldo Lopez finished off six scoreless innings for the second game in a row on Tuesday night against the Astros. Here is what Astros manager Joe Espada said about the new version of Reynaldo Lopez.
“His change was really good and then he threw some sliders. Our history with him has only been one inning. He comes in throwing the fastball-slider, but today he pitched. He changed speeds and kept us off balance.”
Lopez is a new man in 2024.
Lopez has been the ace of the staff thus far into the season. It’s still very early and you just know that Max Fried is going to even his numbers out with a series of quality outings. Early season numbers can swing violently due to the small sample sizes. That goes for the bad and the good.
Lopez could come back down to Earth in his next start, but so far he has been the ace. Lopez has turned into must-see TV for Braves fans. His next start is scheduled for Monday, 04/22/2024 against the Marlins.
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