Reynaldo Lopez injury update exposes an obvious flaw in Braves pitching plan

As crazy as this is to say, the Atlanta Braves are currently holding the first Wild Card spot in the NL because of their pitching. That feels weird to say because they have so much position player talent, but their offense has underperformed dramatically this season. It also feels weird to say that the pitching has led this team because Atlanta has dealt with a slew of pitching injuries.

Spencer Strider is done for the year. Max Fried just returned from an IL stint. Depth options such as Hurston Waldrep, Ray Kerr, and A.J. Smith-Shawver have all missed time. Now, one of the bright spots, Reynaldo Lopez, is set to hit the IL with right forearm inflammation.

Hopefully Lopez's stint on the IL will be a minimal one as the Braves were not initially very concerned by the injury, but arm injuries are always unpredictable. Chances are, Lopez will be out past the minimum 15 days. Lopez's injury shines a light on an obvious flaw in Atlanta's pitching plans.

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Reynaldo Lopez injury update exposes obvious Braves flaw

Taking Lopez's spot on Atlanta's active roster and in their rotation is Bryce Elder, a pitcher who was an All-Star last season but has fallen off a cliff since then. Elder struggled mightily in the second half of last season and has spent most of this season in Triple-A.

When Elder has had his shot in the majors, he has posted a 5.67 ERA in nine starts. Granted, he did pitch wonderfully his last time out in the majors, allowing just one earned run in 6.1 innings of work against this same Brewers team he is slated to face next time out, but that has not been the norm for the right-hander who has allowed six or more earned runs in three of his nine MLB starts.

Having Elder, a pitcher who has not looked like an MLB-caliber pitcher for much of this season as the next man up is less than ideal.

Predicting injuries is never fun, but the Braves had to plan for this. Lopez's 104.2 innings of work this season is the most he has thrown in a single season since 2019. The same goes for Chris Sale, whose 123 innings of work is his high also since 2019. That's a half-decade ago. Even Spencer Schwellenbach has set a new professional high in innings pitched and will only continue to rack more innings up as the season progresses.

The Braves have given their starters extra days of rest here and there, but they had to expect that at least one starter was going to have to miss time. Having Elder as the next man up, again, shouldn't happen.

Alex Anthopoulos had time to add at the deadline as Lopez's injury was suffered on July 28, a couple of days before deadline day. Instead, the only deal he made saw the Braves add Jorge Soler (an outfielder) and Luke Jackson (a reliever).

This alarming lack of quality depth is presumably why the Braves had Fried start Sunday's game rather than giving him a rehab start first.

The Braves didn't have to go out and trade for Jack Flaherty or Garrett Crochet, but trading for someone who could fill in as a starter before Bryce Elder would've benefitted them greatly, especially since Lopez suffered his injury before the deadline. If Elder pitches like he did in the first half of 2023 then sure, relying on him is fine, but that feels more like wishful thinking.