Braves News: Braves Gave Her Sensational Aces Whom Were Out For The Rest Of The Season Due To Scary Injury
News and notes from Brian Snitker’s pregame media session Wednesday.
ATLANTA — Reynaldo López will make his fourth start of the season for the Atlanta Braves in Wednesday’s matchup against the Miami Marlins. The Braves have been careful to manage Lopez’s workload as he transitions from the bullpen. He has excelled so far allowing just one run over his first 18 innings.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said that they are pleased with how Lopez has managed his move to the rotation and thinks that he can only get better once he gets more starts under his belt.
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“He’s been really good, obviously,” Snitker said of Lopez. “We didn’t know coming out of spring training with him starting again after a couple of years off in the pen. I think he’s handled it really good. I’ve been really pleased. I think as he continues to make starts and gets comfortable with doing that again and the routine in between and all that, it should continue to get better.
Atlanta’s pitching staff enters Wednesday ranked 13th in the majors in ERA and are 14th in FIP. The starting rotation currently ranks 21st in ERA and 9th in FIP. Those numbers are trending in the right direction in recent days. Bryce Elder turned in an excellent start in his season debut Monday while Max Fried tossed a complete game shutout on just 92 pitches Tuesday.
“Anytime those guys get into the sixth and seventh inning, it just makes your bullpen a lot more manageable and keeps the stress off those guys,” Snitker said of his rotation.”
“I think as you go and you get more consistent and guys get out there more,” Snitker added. “You’re seeing a guy like Max that had a rough start, but now he’s starting to look like himself again. I think that’s just true with anything. Once you get going when you get out of spring training, you just want to get into the routines and play a lot of games.”
Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies injury updates
Sean Murphy caught a bullpen session for the second straight day on Wednesday and has ramped up his activity. He has been throwing, but has yet to swing a bat. Snitker didn’t have an update on when Murphy might start taking dry swings.
Ozzie Albies was on the field early going through agility drills and running the bases. He appeared to be moving well and looks like he will be ready to return Friday when he is eligible to be activated from the injured list.
“Yeah, he probably could play right now if the deadline was up,” Snitker said.
Luis Guillorme and David Fletcher have filled in at second base with Albies out. Snitker was complimentary of the job both players have done.
