Even good news for Braves can’t come without a dose of even worse news

There are several reasons as to why the Atlanta Braves have had a down year relative to expectations, but injuries are the main one. Virtually every expected key contributor with Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, and Chris Sale being exceptions, has dealt with some sort of injury.

The Braves finally got good news on that front, as Reynaldo Lopez is set to return from the IL to start Tuesday's series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies. Lopez had missed nearly a month due to a forearm injury, so he'll be a welcome addition to a rotation in need of a bit of a boost.

While the Lopez news is awesome, the Braves have even worse injury news for their fans to worry about. Austin Riley, Atlanta's star third baseman, was removed from Sunday's game after getting hit on his hand by a Jack Kochanowicz pitch. It was revealed after the game that X-rays and other tests proved to be inconclusive, so all Braves fans can do is wait and hope for the best possible update when the team returns home.

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Reynaldo Lopez return is overshadowed by rough Austin Riley injury update

Inconclusive test results are better than finding out that Riley had suffered a serious injury, but that's still not what Braves fans wanted to hear. X-rays and the other tests were not negative. Riley could still be dealing with a break of some sort, which would be detrimental.

As important as Lopez is to this team, pitching has not been Atlanta's problem. Even with all of the pitching injuries that they've dealt with, the Braves rank third in the majors with a 3.71 staff ERA. Lopez obviously has played a big role in that, but even without him, the Braves' rotation is among the best in the National League with Chris Sale, Max Fried, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Charlie Morton in the mix.

Their lineup, though, has underperformed dramatically all season long, and without Riley would be even worse. Not only would an IL stint for Riley mean extended playing time for Luke Williams in all likelihood, but Riley, after a slow start, has been performing like the star Braves fans had become accustomed to.

The 27-year-old has a .870 OPS since June 1, making him the best Braves position player by far not named Marcell Ozuna for a couple of months now. If the Braves lose him, it'll be even more difficult for them to fend off the field in the National League and make it to the postseason, let alone push the Phillies for first place in the NL East.

All Braves fans can do right now is hope for the best. Inconclusive tests don't get them off the hook, but as of now, the worst-case scenario has not been revealed. Hopefully, additional tests will reveal that his hand was simply swollen and bruised and that he'll be back sooner than later.