Braves have Reynaldo Lopez's wife to thank for his All-Star season with Atlanta

In what has been the most pleasant surprise for the Atlanta Braves this season, and perhaps throughout all of baseball, Reynaldo Lopez has not only flourished as a starting pitcher, but he is a National League All-Star. In his first season with the Braves, Lopez is 7-3 on the year with a 1.88 ERA in 17 starts. He was only supposed to be the team's No. 5 starter, but he has been so much more.

No, this isn't Lopez's first rodeo, as the 30-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic is in the midst of his ninth big-league season. However, this year is different for him, partially because he listened to his wife, Jhilaris.

During the offseason, she sat down in a meeting with his agent Gio Rodriguez and said, "Let's find a team that will give him an opportunity to start," per The Athletic's Levi Weaver and Ken Rosenthal. Atlanta was that team.

Lopez had not been a starting pitcher since 2019 when he was with the Chicago White Sox. While he did pitch well out of the bullpen in the years to follow for a handful of teams, once again, Jhlaris was right. "You see? As a reliever, you were not going to make the All-Star Game," h/t The Athletic. Lopez is halfway through his first year of a three-year contract with Atlanta. If he keeps pitching like this, stay forever.

Lopez is joined in Texas by fellow starting pitchers Chris Sale and Max Fried, as well as Marcell Ozuna.

Reynaldo Lopez can thank his wife Jhilaris for being a first-time All-Star

Last season, Braves Country experienced a similar first half out of another right-handed starting pitcher. Bryce Elder was masterfully pitching to soft contact, being one of two Braves pitchers to make the Midsummer Classic, along with fireballer Spencer Strider. Well, Elder has been up and down from Triple-A Gwinnett ever since. Strider is out for the year with an elbow injury. A lot can happen...

I think this might be different for Lopez in Atlanta for a few reasons. The first is Lopez has been outstanding in pretty much every start this season. Even if the offense doesn't show up, he gives the Braves a chance to win with one quality start afer another. The other is he is much more experienced than Elder, who was a rookie at the time. We are talking about a nine-year veteran with Lopez here.

Overall, the combination of Lopez and Sale's brilliance out of the starting rotation has been a breath of fresh air in an otherwise frustrating first half for Braves Country's lofty standards. The offense has massively underachieved, while the starting rotation and bullpen have been what has kept Atlanta in games. Right now, Atlanta needs rest to get ready for the second half, but Lopez earned his NL nod.

The Braves would be so much worse off if Lopez settled for being a relief pitcher for another season.