The Braves are shifting Reynaldo Lopez to the bullpen to address mechanical issues ahead of Spencer Strider's potential debut.
Teams often make changes when they’re doing poorly, but that doesn’t describe the Atlanta Braves, who became the first team in baseball to reach 20 wins after beating the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday. It’s a strong start after a disappointing 2025 campaign, and Braves manager Walt Weiss is continually looking to improve their pitching staff. Atlanta’s rotation is now in a bit of flux as Reynaldo Lopez is headed to the bullpen while a potential Spencer Strider season debut is on the horizon as soon as this weekend. It appears that Weiss is taking a series-to-series approach with his rotation while working through his options, and Lopez will head down to relief duties as he works on issues with his mechanics.
The righty is 1-1 on the year with a 3.74 ERA and 20 strikeouts to 11 walks in 21.2 innings pitched. The move, however, is temporary, with Weiss iterating that they “seem [him] as a starter” long-term and is expected to return to the rotation once he’s able to fix the mechanical issues in his delivery. In the meantime, the current rotation will see Martin Perez (1-1, 2.70) get the start on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers; rookie JR Ritchie will start Wednesday after a strong MLB debut last Thursday, only allowing one run in seven innings pitched in a 7-2 win over the Washington Nationals. Righty Bryce Elder (3-1, 1.95) will take Thursday’s start. The rotation is headlined by Chris Sale (5-1, 2.31) at ace, with Grant Holmes throwing quite well, leading to a crowded staff that Weiss will continue to make evaluations and tweaks to.
Here is the full story from Braves Roundtable writer Gavin Groe on Atlanta’s change to the rotation after their first 29 games.
In addition, Atlanta will look forward to Strider potentially debuting against the Colorado Rockies after beginning the season on IL, while Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep could make their returns in June after recovering from elbow surgeries. Having a surplus of healthy starters is certainly a problem many teams would hope to have, and the fluid rotation will continue to see some changes.