Braves latest rotation concern was avoidable and lesson for Alex Anthopoulos

The Atlanta Braves may never reach their potential in 2024 and if we had to list one reason why, it would be injuries.

Looking at their roster, just about every impact player has seen some sort of injury. The preseason favorite for the NL Cy Young award, Spencer Strider, went down with a torn UCL, cutting his season short. The preseason favorite for the NL MVP award, Ronald Acuña Jr. lost his season to a torn ACL.

And now the Braves may be facing the most predictable injury yet and they have very limited time to fix the massive hole in their roster.

(For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.)

Braves Reynaldo Lopez exits game early due to forearm tightness, 3 days before trade deadline

Reynaldo Lopez, a reliever that was converted to a starter this season, has been spectacular for the Braves in 2024. Five years ago, Lopez was a starter for the White Sox, but he hasn't thrown over 100 innings in a season since 2019. In fact, over that five-year span, the most he tossed in a single season was 66.

This was a clear cause for concern as the Braves are already struggling with the fifth spot in their starting rotation.

Thomas Erbe of FanSided mentioned this less than a week ago, discussing how the Braves need to be careful with their starters arms.

"One of the concerns the Braves have moving towards October is their starting rotation. Spencer Strider has been gone for a while now after needing season-ending surgery. Max Fried is currently on the injured list with left forearm neuritis. And as the season rolls on, the Braves will need to consider the workload they're putting on one of their best arms."

And now, almost like Erbe and many others seemingly predicted, Lopez has been pulled from a start with forearm tightness. Anybody that has been around pitching close enough knows how directly the forearm and elbow play together in terms of performance and injury. If Atlanta isn't careful here, they could be playing around with the potential for another torn UCL.

And with just three days until the July 30th trade deadline, Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has to dive deep into the trade market to secure his starting pitching rotation. Atlanta may need one or even two starters heading into the second half.