St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves

If Reynaldo López's effort during Wednesday night’s 5-1 win over the Cardinals was a sign of things to come, there might not be as much reason to be concerned about the Braves' rotation. Ozzie Albies’s first-inning RBI double and third-inning solo homer provided sufficient support for López, who allowed just one run and two hits, needing just 69 pitches to complete five innings. This was just his second start since transitioning back to the rotation from the bullpen on Friday in San Francisco. View this post on Instagram When López faced the Giants on Friday, he allowed just one run, despite allowing four hits, including three doubles, over three innings. His fastball averaged 93.8 mph and he got just two whiffs with his four-seamer and slider combined. “That looked like the 2024 Lópey,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “That’s what we were hoping for. We talked about him trending in a good direction. That was really good.” It’s safe to say that outing was nearly as impressive as this latest one. López’s fastball averaged 95.1 mph and he got a total of 12 whiffs combined with the four-seamer and slider. The Cardinals hit three balls 99.6 mph or harder during the first inning. But they hit just one more ball 88 mph or harder over the remainder of the right-hander’s outing. “You see the swings and misses as they are happening, so you just keep going with it.” López said through an interpreter. “It definitely helps confidence.”