It wasn't all bad news for Reynaldo Lopez on Tuesday.
The Atlanta Braves were defeated by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday in a spring training game, losing 4-3. Reynaldo Lopez pitched for Atlanta, and it is safe to say that he did not have his best outing.
The veteran right-handed pitcher turned in 3.2 innings of three-run baseball while walking two hitters. He still has a 2.84 spring training ERA, but his performance on Tuesday was lackluster for the most part.
With that being said, there was reason for optimism despite his difficult outing. Lopez struck out six hitters in the game. If his strikeout pitch is already working during spring training, it could lead to big results during the regular season.
Braves Need Big Season From Reynaldo Lopez
Lopez, 32, made only one start in 2025 due to injury. In 2024, however, he was one of the better pitchers in the sport. He ultimately pitched to a stellar 1.99 ERA across 26 outings.
Strikeouts played a crucial role in Lopez's success. He ranked in the 80th percentile for strikeout percentage in 2024. He was also in the 66th percentile for whiff percentage. Lopez did a respectable job of getting hitters to swing outside of the zone as well, something that was evidenced by his 70th percentile ranking for chase percentage.
He found success with a number of pitches as well. In fact, he ranked in the 99th percentile in breaking run value, 95th percentile in fastball run value and 97th percentile in overall pitching run value.
His overall success led to an All-Star selection -- the first of his big league career -- as well as an 11th place finish in National League Cy Young voting.
Sure, Lopez is not the best strikeout pitcher in baseball. His career-high mark is 169, and in 2024 he recorded only 148. It was a respectable mark since he only appeared in 26 games, though. He surely would have set a new career-high had he pitched in 30 or more contests.
Lopez is returning from an injury-plagued 2025 campaign. It is difficult to know exactly what to expect from him heading into the new season. He has been alright so far at spring training. Even in a difficult Tuesday spring outing, Lopez provided the Braves with good news.
Now Atlanta will wait and see if Reynaldo Lopez can limit runs in addition to recording impressive strikeout numbers during the upcoming regular season.