The Atlanta Braves dropped their opener to the Chicago Cubs 7-3 in Wrigley Field on Monday night.
Here is Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
Reynaldo’s start, almost in its entirety.
He loaded the bases in the 2nd inning, allowing a leadoff double and a single before getting a strikeout and a walk. And from there, Chicago pounced.
An infield force out scored a run after Ozzie Albies couldn’t get the throw to second quick enough for a double play to end the inning, despite catcher Carson Kelly being the one running down the line. Likely NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong made Atlanta pay for not turning the double play with a two-run double, just getting enough of a changeup away to drop the ball down the right field line.
Three Cubs runs on the board because the double play turn and throw was too slow to beat a catcher on the basepaths.
And after López rebounded to get a groundout of Seiya Suzuki to end the inning, Chicago came right back after López in the third. First baseman Michael Busch walked and, after a pop-up by Alex Bregman, stole second base. López looked to be getting out of the inning, getting Ian Happ to ground out (advancing Busch to third), but once again, the contact merchants got to Atlanta’s starter. Nico Hoerner fisted an inside fastball to right, scoring Busch, and Michael Conforto got him by turning on a hanging curveball for a double to right. By the time Pedro Ramírez lined out, López had been tagged for five runs in just two innings of work.
More on López in a moment.
Today’s Player of the Game
In a tough night for the Braves in virtually every respect, let’s bypass the herculean relief effort of AJ Smith-Shawver (5IP, 2ER) and give it to Mike Yastrzemski.
The Braves first got on the board after Sean Murphy drove in Michael Harris II, who singled to open the 7th inning. And then Yastrzemski came in as a pinch-hitter for Ha-Seong Kim and cold off the bench, hit a two-run homer to narrow the deficit to four runs.
Lost in the midst of a cold start for the veteran free agent Yastrzemski is that he’s peaking at the right time - he’s gone 6-18 in his last seven games, scoring four times, drawing three walks, and driving in two more. With Atlanta likely not getting Lane Thomas back this season with his oblique issue, the Braves need Yastrzemski to be better than ever as this get to October.
What You’ll Be Talking About
That might be it for Reynaldo López. Manager Walt Weiss said that he’s going on the injured list with a recurrence of his shoulder issue, one that’s reportedly been bothering him off and on throughout the season.
And if that’s it for López, it’s a disappointing end.
Sure, the results are ugly - eleven runs in 7.2 innings since returning from the injured list, on thirteen hits and five walks against just seven strikeouts. But whatever you think about the results, the process is even worse.
López averaged just 92.9 mph tonight on his once-vaunted fastball, hitting a max velo of 94.6. In his resurgent 2024 season, he was averaging 95.5 mph and was touching 99-100 at times, usually with runners on base and two outs.
And that diminished stuff was painfully evident tonight - López picked up six whiffs in 25 swings, a 24% whiff rate, but just one on seven swings on the once-feared slider and none on nine swings against the four-seamer. He actually got most of his luck in the 2nd and 3rd on the changeup, getting three whiffs on four swings when he used it as a tendency breaker.
And even broadcaster CJ Nitkowski, a former pitcher who dealt with his own shoulder issues, pointed out on the broadcast that this post-surgery version of López is likely the version that Atlanta will have going forward; the velo isn’t likely to return if it’s been almost a year and a half since the arthroscopic shoulder surgery (April 2025).
And I’m sorry, this version of López just isn’t worth it. Sure, he’s done okay this season at limiting hard contact - 87.8 mph avg exit velocity allowed this season (71st percentile) and an 84.5 mph tonight - but that’s about it; López has a groundball rate of just 38.4% this year (28th percentile), so he’s not even keeping the occasional hard-hit ball he allowed on the ground. At a certain point, you’ve got enough #5 starters on the roster where the marginal value of retaining another is minimal, at best. He’s hopefully a trade candidate this offseason, likely/hopefully as part of a 40-man purge.
And honestly, it might not even take a trade. He’s making $14M this season on year two of his reworked three-year deal, but thankfully, the salary drops to $8M in 2027. Honestly, that could potentially end up being a small enough amount that the Braves just eat it and move on, whether that’s prior to the lockout, in spring training next year (whenever that happens), or early in the 2027 season.
What You’ll Be Talking About, Part 2: Electric Boogaloo
Atlanta’s offense tonight.
The Braves were facing David Peterson, who rebounded from his 6.09 ERA with the Mets to produce a…4.41 ERA for the Cubs. No matter - he handled Atlanta for six innings, striking out seven and allowing just one run on three hits and three walks. The Braves had opportunities, but mostly couldn’t cash them in - they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners on base. They actually drew some walks tonight as well, getting five (three off of Peterson), and couldn’t cash any of them in.
And a lot of the blame, as it did with the failed double play early in the game, goes on Ozzie Albies. He had one of Atlanta’s three double plays today, part of an 0-4 evening for the second baseman. And it’s increasingly hard to see what Albies is bringing to the roster other than the good vibes that come with being the team’s longest-tenured player.
Over the last thirty games, Ozzie is hitting just .189/.238/.279, a .517 OPS. He has one home run and five RBI, striking out 20 times.
And this is your cleanup hitter?
As Jake so eloquently put it on the postcast…if Ozzie’s not hitting for power, what exactly is it that he’s doing for you? He’s not a good defender, he’s not someone who runs a high on-base or average, and so he’s mostly reduced to power and vibes. And every team needs both a glue guy and a chief vibes officer…but those guys aren’t batting cleanup for you.
His option’s only $7M for 2027 and so I’m assuming it’ll be picked up…but should it be? And can Atlanta afford to enter yet another season with this version of Ozzie Albies penciled in as a starter? I’m not so sure.
Looking for more discussion about this game?
Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the contest.
What’s Next for the Braves?
Atlanta’s looking to even up the series, with lefty Martín Pérez (8-9, 3.08) taking on Kevin Gausman (9-12, 4.60) at 7:40 PM ET.
Even Weiss has to see Albies at clean up is good news for the opposing team. Jocularity doesn't drive in runs.
The guys are tired and this game never looked good. Lets see what Perez can do outside of Atl and see what JR has after his 15k 6.1 start last week. The day off Thursday is big. The pen have the day off mostly is big for this series, especially with JR starting on Wedensday. 11 games left is very excieting.