Lopez surrendered five runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk over 3.1 innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game versus the Twins. He failed to record a strikeout.
Lopez worked up to 57 pitches (36 strikes) Thursday compared to 44 in his previous outing, though his velocity was noticeably down and inconsistent, as noted by David O'Brien of The Athletic. He averaged just 93 mph on his fastball after averaging 95.5 mph with his heater in 2024, and his slider and curveball experienced similar drops in speed as well. Arm fatigue is fairly common at this stage in spring training, though it may be worth keeping an eye on Lopez, who had issues with a tired arm last season after making the move from the bullpen to the rotation.
Lopez threw 44 pitches (25 strikes) in Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees, allowing one hit and two walks over 1.2 scoreless innings. He struck out one.
The right-hander has yet to give up a run this spring, posting a 3:3 K:BB over 3.2 scoreless innings in two starts. Lopez had a breakout 2024 in his return to a starting role, delivering a 1.99 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 148:42 K:BB in 135.2 innings for Atlanta, and he's aiming to handle a 200-inning workload in 2025.
Braves' Reynaldo Lopez: Aims for 30-to-35 starts, 200 IP
Rotowire
Lopez said this week that his goal is to make 30-to-35 starts and pitch 200 innings in 2025, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
Lopez, who threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts in his spring debut Tuesday against the Red Sox, made 26 appearances (25 starts) and threw 135.2 frames in 2024 in his move from the bullpen to the rotation, which he said through an interpreter "was a good opportunity to establish a base." That was more innings than he threw combined between the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, but Lopez has topped 180 innings twice in his career, doing so in back-to-back seasons with the White Sox in 2018 and 2019. The righty dealt with forearm and shoulder trouble in the second half last season but reported to camp healthy and is aiming to take a big step forward with his workload in 2025. Per David O'Brien of The Athletic, Lopez also got better results last season on a normal schedule, posting a 1.52 ERA and 0.97 WHIP during his five starts on four days' rest.
Lopez signed a three-year, $30 million contract with Atlanta on Saturday.
Lopez was originally set to make $11 million in 2025 and 2026 with an $8 million club option for 2027. In an effort to minimize payroll, Atlanta will now pay him $8 million next season while his 2026 salary increases to $14 million, and he's now guaranteed to make $8 million in 2027 (compared to his $4 million option buyout). The 30-year-old posted a minuscule 1.99 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 135.2 innings this year.
