When the dust settled from the Atlanta Braves' skirmish with the Angels, there was no question that Reynaldo Lopez was going to potentially get suspended for his role. In fact, given that Lopez was very clearly bashing Soler with a baseball in his hand, the only real question was how long Atlanta would be without his services.
Well, the punishment decision did get announced on Wednesday, and Lopez was indeed suspended. However, it was a bit surprising to see that not only did Lopez and Jorge Soler both receive the same initial suspension length, but Lopez also will essentially only miss one start at most.
Predictably, both players were appealing their suspensions, and Soler was in the lineup against the Braves on Wednesday and hit a home run to boot. However, Lopez's appeal has already resulted in a settlement, and his suspension was reduced to five games.
After filing an appeal, López reached a settlement with MLB and his suspension has been reduced to five games effective immediately https://t.co/vCnSctV5Eq
— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) April 8, 2026
Reynaldo Lopez's suspension length should have Braves breathing sigh of relief
Comparing suspensions for hitters and pitchers is always weird because they don't play anywhere close to the same number of games, and the timing can mean that a shorter suspension could end up not costing a starter any real time at all. By having his suspension announced the day immediately after his start and right before a day off, all a five-game suspension will end up being is pushing his next start out a day or two.
Given the alternatives, Atlanta should consider itself extremely lucky, especially when you factor in that they are already down three starters since the start of camp. With Spencer Strider's return likely to happen in the next few weeks, the Braves may not even notice that Lopez was suspended at all.
Now, will Atlanta have to shuffle their roster around a bit to make things work? Probably, depending on the status of their roster after the off day on Thursday. We might see another starter come up for a spot start to make the math work without torpedoing the bullpen, but the Braves would much rather do that than figure out how to cover for multiple of Lopez's starts, which is what appeared to be in the cards until the announcement.