Reynaldo

López

López walked three and gave up three soft singles in a three-run first. The second then opened with a homer and a single, leading to his removal. López really didn’t deserve any luck while throwing just 30 of his 58 pitches for strikes, but to give up five hits and just two hard-hit balls was mostly a fluke. It’s his first loss of the year, and it leaves him with a 3.74 ERA through five starts. He’ll face the Phillies on Sunday.

It was López’s first start back since a five-game suspension for his part in the brawl with the Angels. It didn’t start out very well, as he gave up a run in the first and three more in the second before he settled down. He struggled with his command as seen in three walks and 53-of-96 pitches landing for strikes, but he was able to fan six despite generating only five swings and misses. López has a friendly matchup on paper against the Nationals on Monday.

The five-game ban, which was reduced from seven originally, goes into effect immediately. The 32-year-old righty won’t be eligible to start again until next week’s series against the Marlins after being involved in a wild on-field brawl with former teammate Jorge Soler where the two traded punches before being separated during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles.

Both are appealing, which means that Soler remains in the Angels lineup until after the hearing takes place. The two traded punches in front of the mound during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game in Los Angeles after López threw up-and-in on Soler, who was hit by a pitch in his previous at-bat following a first-inning homer. The two were previously teammates in Atlanta back in 2024.

Soler and López traded punches during a chaotic donnybrook that erupted during the fifth inning at Angel Stadium after a high-and-inside pitch. Soler clobbered a two-run homer off López back in the opening frame before being drilled hit by a pitch his next time up. Amazingly, it was Braves manager Walt Weiss who delivered a textbook tackle to bring Soler to the ground and help break up the brawl while Mike Trout managed to corral López, who somehow held onto the baseball throughout the entire incident. There will undoubtedly be suspensions handed out by the league after one of the wildest on-field melees in recent years.

López struck out three batters on the night while allowing one base on balls. The only blemish on his evening came on a solo shot off the bat of Jordan Lawlar in the third inning. The Braves provided him with 11 runs of support in the game, so all he had to do was keep the train on the tracks to earn a victory in this one. The 32-year-old hurler got six whiffs on 79 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 23 percent. He’ll bring a pristine 1.64 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and a 6/3 K/BB ratio (11 innings) into Tuesday’s matchup against the Angels in Los Angeles.

López wasn’t intentionally holding back while averaging just 91.3 mph with his fastball this spring, but there was talk that he figured something out in his most recent bullpen session and that was clearly correct; he came in at 94.4 mph with his fastball tonight, leaving him 1.2 mph shy of his 2025 average. We still wouldn’t really want to count on him staying healthy, but the boost tonight makes him an option in mixed leagues in which he was passed over on draft day. He’ll face the Diamondbacks on Thursday.

The 32-year-old right-hander also issued a pair of free passes while recording only one strikeout on the afternoon. He kept the Twins off the board through the first three innings until they scratched out a run in the fourth. Things got worse in the fifth as Luke Keaschall slugged a three-run homer that chased López from the game. He got just four whiffs on 80 pitches on the day, posting an uninspiring CSW of 18 percent. He finishes the spring with a 4.15 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and a 15/8 K/BB ratio across 17 1/3 innings.

López struck out six and gave up just two hard-hit balls, so he probably deserved better today. Nevertheless, it’s still hard to recommend him with his velocity this far down after shoulder surgery. He averaged 92.6 mph today, a scant improvement over his mark of 92.4 mph from his first three starts. He was at 95.5 mph in his 25 starts for the Braves in 2024.

The 32-year-old hurler racked up three strikeouts on the night while issuing a pair of walks. The lone tally against him came in the opening inning as Josh Bell worked a two out walk then Trevor Larnach and Ryan Jeffers followed with singles to move him around and in. Lopez finished his day with three straight scoreless frames. For the spring, he now holds a 1.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and an 8/4 K/BB ratio over nine innings in his first three starts.