BRAVES NEWS: MAX FRIED, FRONT OFFICE, WALK-OFF WIN FOR SWEEP

Reynaldo Lopez continued his impressive work on Wednesday, with a strong seven inning outing that helped Atlanta to the series sweep after some late-game chaos. Reynaldo has now allowed two runs this season, after allowing his first home run of the season for the only run he allowed Wednesday. Much baseball remains to be played, but right now the front offices decision to sign him and use him as a starter is looking like great value, which will provide a lot of flexibility for the team in the playoffs as well. His strikeout rate has taken a significant dip as a starter, but is still in a perfectly reasonable range, and he is keeping the walks under control. He is due for some regression in runs allowed, as he will likely give up home runs at a higher rate than he has so far and will not be able to strand so many batters, but is still undeniably pitching well and providing excellent value to the Braves. This is all the more important with the absence of Spencer Strider.

Braves News

Ivan took a quick look at Max Fried’s fast-paced style, which has been the fastest of any Braves’ regular in the recent years.

The Athletic recently polled MLB executives on front offices around the league recently. Unsurprisingly to anyone paying attention to the last 6 years, the Braves ranked very highly.

Reynaldo Lopez pitched another gem and the bullpen largely backed him up with some help from the defense, despite a bit of bad luck that necessitated an extra inning walk-off instead of an easy 9-inning win.

MLB News

The Marlins are moving AJ Puk back to the bullpen after he started the season in the rotation and got injured. The former top A’s prospect has had quite the saga through his professional career so far.

Speaking of former top prospects, the Cubs recalled Pete Crow-Armstrong from AAA, as Cody Bellinger hit the IL with two fractured ribs. There is not currently a public timeline for Bellinger.

Guardians’ Gavin Williams is being shut back down due to some experienced elbow discomfort. He was just trying to come back from inflammation he had in the same elbow this spring.

In further pitcher injury news, Blake Snell is hitting the IL with an abductor strain, continuing the frustrating belated start to his season, after his notoriously long free agent saga.

Brayan Bello is also hitting the IL with right lat tightness. He is one of many Red Sox injuries this season, although perhaps one of the more disappointing, as he recently signed an extension with the team.

The Cardinals optioned recently graduated top prospect Jordan Walker to triple-A, amidst a brutal start to his second major league season. Walker had a solid debut season at only 20 years old, but has not been able to build on that so far.

2024-04-25T10:04:15Z dg43tfdfdgfd