It has been apparent for a while now that Grant Holmes is not a guy that the Atlanta Braves should be relying upon in their rotation. Holmes' breakout 2025 season was very fun, but the regression this season has been disconcerting and makes one wonder if rehabbing Holmes' ailing elbow instead of having surgery did much good at all. At this point, the Braves just have to pray Holmes can go more than three innings in any given start.
Even in Holmes' decent starts, such as his five-inning effort against Texas on Sunday, flaws are apparent. Three runs over five innings is passable, but there was a lot of hard contact mixed in there, and his ability to miss bats consistently continued to be a thing of the past. In short, Holmes looks like a long reliever right now, and that isn't great when you are needing him to throw starter innings.
However, adding another starter at the trade deadline may not be enough to move Holmes out of his current role that he can no longer do well. Adding multiple starters at the deadline might do it, but it would just be a lot easier if Reynaldo Lopez can stick in the rotation.
Reynaldo Lopez may be the key to the Braves finally getting their rotation where they need it to be
Aside from a start right before the All-Star break, Lopez's transition back to the rotation had been going pretty well. It was clear that Atlanta wasn't pressing their luck with Lopez's pitch count, but he was pretty efficient, and his stuff looked good. Even his "bad" start against the Cardinals only involved him giving up four earned runs, with three of those runs coming on one swing from Lars Nootbaar.
The Braves need more of that out of Lopez in the coming weeks and months. Everyone expects Alex Anthopoulos to add a starter, but adding two that are worth a damn might be tricky in this seller's market. However, with AJ Smith-Shawver's return from injury coming relatively soon, the Braves could probably get by with one additional starter, but only if they get Holmes out of there and Lopez continues to pitch well.
In this scenario, Atlanta would be free to replace Holmes and one of Bryce Elder or Martin Perez in the rotation with whoever they trade for, as well as Smith-Shawver. That arrangement certainly has more upside than what the Braves are doing right now and would definitely take some of the strain off the bullpen, especially if Holmes does shift to being a long man out of the bullpen. It isn't a perfect plan, but it could work. Lopez just has to keep doing his part.
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