Sometimes, it becomes clear the baseball gods don't want to see certain teams succeed. In 2024, the Atlanta Braves are one of those teams. There's no other way around it.
That was blatantly clear on Tuesday when pitcher Reynaldo Lopez had to exit his start after the first inning with worryingly low velocity.
Manager Brian Snitker checked Lopez out during an early mound visit along with a trainer and pitching coach. They decided to leave him in to finish out the inning. He didn't come out for the second.
Reynaldo López's avg four-seamfastball velocity was 91.9 mph in his one inning tonight, down 3.6 mph from his season avg. He topped out at 93.8 with one of his 13 four-seamers in the inning. Threw 25 pitches (16 strikes) and allowed 1 hit, 1 HBP w/ 1K. No update yet from #Braves.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) September 10, 2024
David O'Brien of The Athletic laid out the velocity numbers. Lopez's velo was down 3.6 mph from his season average.
Snitker turned to Jesse Chavez out of the bullpen. It may get tricky for the Braves to manage the pen on Wednesday with more use than hoped for on Tuesday.
That's all the bad news.
The good news is that Lopez was allowed to complete the first inning. Despite the velocity issue, he allowed just one hit and no runs. So, hopefully, his exit was purely out of an abundance of caution.
And an off day on Thursday ahead of a critical series with the Dodgers will help recharge the bullpen at least.
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Reynaldo Lopez injury dampens resurgent Braves hitting performance
The performance of the Braves offense after his departure provided another bout of good news. Jorge Soler, Matt Olson and Ramon Laureano drove in runs in the third inning while Michael Harris II, Olson and Laureano added to the good vibes with another trip of runs in the fourth. Atlanta led, 7-0 after four.
There's a certain kind of sick humor in the Braves finally getting their bats going at the same moment they potentially lose a key member of their pitching staff. Atlanta's arms have been the biggest positive pretty much all season. The bats have been the problem.
With the home stretch of the NL Wild Card race in front of them, Atlanta needs their bats to be firing and their arms to be healthy if they want to lock in a postseason bid. Going into Tuesday's game, the Braves trailed the Mets by one game for the final spot.
Braves fans now await an update on Lopez. They haven't gotten much injury luck this season. Now would be a good time for it to show up.