BRAVES NOTES: BRIAN SNITKER ON REYNALDO LóPEZ, OZZIE ALBIES AND SEAN MURPHY UPDATES

ATLANTA — Reynaldo López will make his fourth start of the season for the Atlanta Braves in Wednesday’s matchup against the Miami Marlins. The Braves have been careful to manage Lopez’s workload as he transitions from the bullpen. He has excelled so far allowing just one run over his first 18 innings.

Braves manager Brian Snitker said that they are pleased with how Lopez has managed his move to the rotation and thinks that he can only get better once he gets more starts under his belt.

“He’s been really good, obviously,” Snitker said of Lopez. “We didn’t know coming out of spring training with him starting again after a couple of years off in the pen. I think he’s handled it really good. I’ve been really pleased. I think as he continues to make starts and gets comfortable with doing that again and the routine in between and all that, it should continue to get better.

Atlanta’s pitching staff enters Wednesday ranked 13th in the majors in ERA and are 14th in FIP. The starting rotation currently ranks 21st in ERA and 9th in FIP. Those numbers are trending in the right direction in recent days. Bryce Elder turned in an excellent start in his season debut Monday while Max Fried tossed a complete game shutout on just 92 pitches Tuesday.

“Anytime those guys get into the sixth and seventh inning, it just makes your bullpen a lot more manageable and keeps the stress off those guys,” Snitker said of his rotation.”

“I think as you go and you get more consistent and guys get out there more,” Snitker added. “You’re seeing a guy like Max that had a rough start, but now he’s starting to look like himself again. I think that’s just true with anything. Once you get going when you get out of spring training, you just want to get into the routines and play a lot of games.”

Sean Murphy and Ozzie Albies injury updates

Sean Murphy caught a bullpen session for the second straight day on Wednesday and has ramped up his activity. He has been throwing, but has yet to swing a bat. Snitker didn’t have an update on when Murphy might start taking dry swings.

Ozzie Albies was on the field early going through agility drills and running the bases. He appeared to be moving well and looks like he will be ready to return Friday when he is eligible to be activated from the injured list.

“Yeah, he probably could play right now if the deadline was up,” Snitker said.

Luis Guillorme and David Fletcher have filled in at second base with Albies out. Snitker was complimentary of the job both players have done.

“They’ve done a great job. Fletcher’s knocked in a run last two days. They both done really well defensively, which is the big thing,” Snitker said. “We want them to contribute and do that. They’ve turned double plays really well, played good defense and got some big hits.”

Chadwick Tromp continues to earn praise

Chadwick Tromp will start his eighth game of the season in Wednesday’s series finale. He is 5-for-20 at the plate, but Snitker and coaching staff have continued to praise the way he has handled the pitching staff with Murphy out.

“I can’t say enough about that guy,” Snitker said of Tromp. “I said we were fortunate to have two frontline guys initially with Travis and Murph and then to have a guy that I think the pitchers trust. A lot of organizations don’t have three guys that they can turn to. I feel really good with him behind the plate and he does a really good job. He’s in on all the study. We’re really fortunate to have him in the mix.

“He caught all those guys, all the starters and everything over the course of spring,” Snitker added on how Tromp has handled the pitching staff. “He was one of the three that we kind of worked in and kept him regular knowing he was going to Triple A to start the year and be the guy. He’s caught all of our guys. He has all spring and he’s done it. He does a really good job.

2024-04-24T21:32:39Z dg43tfdfdgfd