Reynaldo Lopez's recovery was one of the biggest question marks for the Atlanta Braves this spring. After what seemed to be a (mostly) successful conversion back to the rotation in 2024, things took a turn for the worse in 2025 when Lopez was only able to make a single start before unfortunately needing surgery on his shoulder. Billed at the time as simply a clean-up procedure, Lopez ended up missing the rest of the regular season.
While we have a good idea what to expect when it comes to elbow injuries with pitchers, shoulders are a different animal entirely. Once Lopez was ruled out of the rest of 2025, there was understandable concern that his shoulder issues were not behind him and that his arthroscopic procedure didn't fully fix the problem.
Those whispered concerns are full-on alarm bells now. In Lopez's last spring start, his velocity was noticeably lower than previously. While Lopez says he feels fine and that it was just "some mechanical issues" that caused the drop-off, fans should be really concerned until Lopez proves otherwise.
Reynaldo Lopez says he physically felt fine yesterday. He blames his velo (87-90) on some mechanical issues. He said it was just one of those days.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) March 23, 2026
Reynaldo Lopez's velocity drop is a big deal considering his recent injury history and the Braves' luck
It would be one thing if Lopez's velocity were down a little bit. That could easily be explained away by using restraint since it is "just" spring training and the usual offseason rust. If Lopez were instead throwing 93-94 mph, no one would really think twice.
But that is not what is happening at the moment. In 2024, before his injury, Lopez's fastball averaged 95.5 mph, and his slider averaged 84.2 mph. As Braves beat writer Mark Bowman relayed from camp, Lopez's fastball was only sitting 87-90 mph, and his slider was 79 mph. That isn't a small drop-off and has understandably raised real concerns that Lopez's shoulder is still an ongoing problem.
For now, the Braves aren't raising any alarms publicly, and Lopez himself is blaming mechanical issues with his delivery for the drop in velocity. Even if that is true, that is not what you want to hear from a guy coming back from a serious injury when the Braves just had to put Spencer Strider on IL right before Opening Day and were already dealing with the losses of Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep.
With roster decisions being made very soon, we should get some clarity on Lopez's health. If the Braves don't put Lopez on the IL to start the season, they probably have at least some reason to believe that his issues are mechanical and that his shoulder is fine. If he does get shut down soon, however, Braves fans probably shouldn't expect to see Lopez anytime soon, and the rotation could look really dicey until some guys get healthy again.