SAN DIEGO — For a team that began the season with off days coming at a premium, a brief stretch with two open dates is a respite from the wear and tear of a long season. And the Braves will take advantage of that by tinkering with their starting rotation.
Rookie JR Ritchie, who pitched five innings in a 7-6, 10-inning loss Tuesday against the Padres at Petco Park, was optioned back to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday. That left the club with four starters — Martín Pérez, Chris Sale, Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes — ahead of Wednesday’s series finale against the Padres, an off-day Thursday, three against the Giants in San Francisco starting Friday and another off-day Monday.
To give the team’s core four even more rest, the Braves will start Reynaldo López on Friday, an indication he could return as a permanent fixture as a starter. López hasn’t started a game since April 21, when he allowed four earned and didn’t make it out of the second inning against the Nationals in Washington, D.C.
López has made 13 relief appearances since and had a 3.27 ERA over 22 innings in those outings. He said Wednesday he expects to go three innings and around 60 pitches Friday.
“After a few months in the bullpen, I’m excited to get back in the rotation,” López said via Braves’ team interpreter Franco Garcia. “Just really more so to do anything I can to help the team win. As I’ve always mentioned before, that’s usually my only objective is whatever role I’m in, to be in the bullpen or as a starter, do whatever I can to help the team win.”
As a starting pitcher this season, López is 1-1 with a 3.74 ERA. In his first three starts of 2026, he allowed a total of two earned runs.
“Last time out in relief (Sunday), he threw 58 pitches, three innings, threw the ball well, held on to his velocity, he was 97 (mph) in that third inning, was out there,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “There’s some struggles in the rotation right now, so trying to reintroduce that to ‘Lopey’, see what that looks like.
“Obviously, he can’t go very deep on Friday. Will be somewhat of a piggyback situation, most likely on Friday — we don’t know with who. Just seeing what it looks like and how we’re going to move forward there.”
Pérez was scheduled to start Wednesday’s game against the Padres. The veteran lefty has taken the mound two of the team’s three victories during a current stretch that has seen the Braves lose nine times in 12 games.
On Saturday at Oracle Park, the Braves will hand the ball to Elder, and Sale is scheduled to start Sunday. When the Braves return to Atlanta next week, they can turn to either Pérez or Grant Holmes on Tuesday at Truist Park against the visiting Cardinals. Holmes pitched 4 2/3 innings Monday in the Braves’ 1-0 loss to the Padres.
The game Tuesday against the Cardinals begins a stretch of 13 straight games before the All-Star break July 13-16. Moving López into the rotation allows the Braves to have more true relief pitchers and the bullpen to have more of a traditional shape.
“Over the course of a season, we’re going to be protective of our arms, and there’s going to be certain nights where you know guys aren’t available, like (Tuesday) night. Last night’s situation, where Ritchie and (Carlos) Carrasco were going to pitch through seven innings, regardless of what the score was, because we only had a couple other guys available,” Weiss said.
“There’s certain nights like that,” Weiss added. “You got to try to reset the bullpen. It’s rare that everyone’s available at once, but having (Tyler) Kinley back in the mix (Wednesday), Ian Hamilton here, couple guys that didn’t throw (Tuesday) night, so they’ll be available, I think we’ll be in pretty good shape (Wednesday). The bullpen thing is something you have to juggle for seven months, so that goes into a lot of the decisions that we make.”
Ritchie (1-2, 4.87), if he pitches again on five-day rest, could start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday in Nashville. That would allow him time to return to the Braves and possibly start against the Mets the first weekend of July if the team chooses to go that route.
But the Braves also have an intriguing option in Hurston Waldrep, who has made two starts for Triple-A Gwinnett and pitched 15 1/3 innings. The 24-year-old Waldrep, who had elbow surgery in February, threw 71 pitches in 4 2/3 innings Sunday.
Waldrep’s next turn in the rotation with Triple-A Gwinnett comes this weekend. The right-hander, who went 6-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 2025, was expected to be part of the Braves’ five-man rotation at season’s outset before having right elbow surgery.
Or, maybe it’s López who pitches like he did in 2024 when he was named a National League All-Star and is back among the team’s five starting arms.
“We feel like he’s in a good place right now,” Weiss said. “We feel like maybe we need a little help in the rotation, and obviously, he’s been one of our best starters since he’s been here. And like a lot of guys with the missing an entire year (because of injury), it’s been a process, him getting back to form. But we like what we see.”
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