Saturday seeds: López Might Pitch Pain-Free In the Bullpen, John Gil's Promotion, Tyler Kinley's Option
Here's some of the news and notes you might have missed from this week
Our Saturday Seeds news roundup is presented by Chinook Seedery - for bigger and better sunflower seeds in both regular and unique flavors, check out Chinook Seedery and use promo code “Braves” for 10% off your order!
López will pitch wherever he’s asked
The last we heard from Reynaldo López, the injured starter had started playing catch and made his 2026 intentions clear: Making starts for the Atlanta Braves.
We have developments on both fronts to report.
Per the Braves beat in Truist Park on Friday, López has progressed from playing catch to throwing a bullpen; He threw 20 pitches on Friday afternoon before Atlanta’s loss to the Houston Astros.
The good news to come out of it is that López reported being pain-free for the first time in multiple years. “Throwing without pain, it feels good,” López told the gathered media, including David O’Brien of The Athletic. “I’ve been feeling that (discomfort) for four or five years. It was, like, getting worse. So this year at spring training, that’s when I felt it the most.”
Similar to the Sean Murphy situation, I think it’s okay to be frustrated that the player attempted to play through pain for multiple years before having a corrective surgical procedure.
But at the same time, it’s heartening to know that it’s possible to get better and more consistent performances from López (and Murphy) now that the mechanical issues that have hampered both their performances and their availability are behind them.
López also broke a bit of news when talking to the media, as well: He’s open to moving back to the bullpen if that’s what the Braves need him to do, although it might not be his preference. “I want to start,” Lopez told the media, including Atlanta News First. “If they decide to put me in the bullpen, that’d be okay too.”
Knowing that López is open to moving to the pen if needed builds in more flexibility for Atlanta this offseason. While Alex Anthopoulos has discussed the rotation being a priority this winter, the Braves could choose to add multiple starters and move López to the pen, or sign one starter and one reliever, with López staying in the rotation for 2026.
Earlier ETA for a shortstop?
A lot of the conversation about Atlanta’s near-term middle infield options have centered around the duo of drafted college shortstops from this last summer, Alex Lodise and Cody Miller. Lodise and Miller are both in High-A Rome, having logged more than 25 games since mid-July’s draft.
But there’s another name that’s ahead of them in the system: John Gil.
The 2023 IFA out of the Dominican Republic has been promoted to Double-A Columbus after a quality run in Single-A Augusta that was low on power (.258/.352/.378), but high on slick fielding and with a hot August finish prior to his promotion. The 19-year-old hit .344/.438/.578 with four homers in August, being named the Carolina League’s Player of the Month by Minor League Baseball.
Sitting in the mid-teens in our Braves Prospect Composite, Gil’s considered to have one of the best infield gloves in Atlanta’s entire minor leagues. Even if recently acquired Ha-Seong Kim picks up his player option for 2026, it’s possible the Braves may need a new shortstop for 2027 and Gil can put himself solidly in the mix with Lodise and Miller for the job coming out of North Port.
Subscription break! We’re adding more premium subs every single day - shout out to our newest premium subscriber: Dave, who upgraded from a free to a monthly subscription earlier this week with the following message: “The Braves need to hire you to work in the front office.” If you’re a frequent reader and/or find yourself really appreciating what we do both here and on the YouTube channel, which includes daily podcasts, bonus or live shows when news breaks, our private group chat, and a soon-to-be-scheduled meetup for a Braves game, why not become a paying member? It’s $6/month or $69 a year, and it helps support everything we’re going over here on Braves Today.
The Braves might avoid Kenley’s escalator
When the Atlanta Braves acquired Tyler Kinley from the Colorado Rockies at this year’s trade deadline, it was widely assumed that they planned to pick up his club option for 2025.
After nearly six weeks of playing time, it’s clear that they expect to pick up that option - he’s pitched to a 0.53 ERA in his 17 innings for Atlanta, allowing just one run on six hits and six walks opposite 18 strikeouts.
It’s also clear that the Braves had a plan to not cost themselves extra money on Kinley. You see, his 2026 club option is for $5M but also has escalators, with Kinley potentially earning $500k for each of 20, 25, and 30 games finished in the 2025 season.
Kinley finished fifteen games with the Rockies, but the Braves have only allowed him to be the final pitcher in three contests since joining the organization. Two of those three came in his first five appearances with Atlanta, all blowout wins, but the Braves have started to deploy him in higher-leverage monents down the stretch.
Of Kinley’s last eight appearances for the Braves, all have been in the seventh or eighth innings, and mostly with close Atlanta leads. He’s been stellar during those stretches, as well, with 8.1 scoreless innings and just two combined walks and hits allowed.
As contributor
, the President of Tyler Kinley’s Fan Club, broke down late in August, Kinley’s indeed pulled a ‘Pierce Johnson’ and ramped up his slider usage to near 75% usage with the Braves. It’s a wholly expected yet satisfying adjustment that has potentially given Atlanta a quality high-leverage reliever without needing to pay the free agency premium.Absurd futility against West Coast teams
With last weekend’s series loss to the Seattle Mariners (in an entirely predictable Kevin Seitzer revenge series scenario), the Braves have set a hilariously futile mark for performance against teams from the West Coast.
Against teams from the three Pacific Coast states, the Braves have played twenty-eight games.
They’ve won just six. The distribution of those wins is pretty amusing, too:
Athletics: 1-2
Angels: 1-2
Dodgers: 1-5
Padres: 1-6
Mariners: 1-2
Giants: 1-5
No one, and I mean no one, flies into Atlanta from the West Coast and sweeps the season series against the 2025 Atlanta Braves.
"No one from the west coast sweeps in Atlanta" - very good - Ha, Ha!