SE Atlanta News

ARLINGTON -- Did Reynaldo López ever envision he would earn an All-Star selection as a starting pitcher?

“That was never in my mind,” López said with a smile. “I just focused on, ‘OK, if I do good as a reliever, I know I can get there.’”

Even before Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos called this past winter to offer the opportunity to transition from the bullpen to the rotation, López’s wife, Jhilaris Bautista, was encouraging him to consider returning to a starting role.

“She was like, ‘Just think about it,’” López said. “‘If you keep doing what you’ve been doing as a reliever, then you can be a great starter.’”

Her intuition proved correct.

Consequently, López will be joining Chris Sale, Marcell Ozuna and Max Fried as the Braves’ representatives for this year’s All-Star Game at Globe Life Field on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. Sale has earned his eighth selection and first since 2018. Ozuna’s third selection is his first since 2017. This is Fried’s second All-Star selection and first since 2022.

López is grateful that his first career selection stems from his wife's belief in his potential as a frontline starter.

“It’s great when you have people who have confidence in you,” López said. “Even me, I didn’t have faith in me being a starter again. My wife was the only one who was telling me I could be a good starter again. She said, ‘You have a good slider. You have a good fastball. And you’re working on the curve and your changeup. If you have four pitches as a reliever, you’d just be wasting pitches.'”

López posted a 4.64 ERA over the 65 starts he made for the White Sox from 2018-19 before transitioning to a relief role during the 2021 season. His most successful career stretch came when he produced a 3.02 ERA over 129 combined appearances with the White Sox, Angels and Guardians from 2022-23.

When discussing free agency last year, López and his agent believed it would be best to stick with a relief role. However, Anthopoulos proposed the starting role without any prompting from López or his representatives, thinking it was worth giving him a chance as the team’s fifth starter with a three-year, $30 million deal.

Despite not throwing more than 66 innings either of the past two seasons and not spending a full season as a big league starter since 2019, López embraced the opportunity.

“We went into Spring Training open and ready to make any determination that we saw fit,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Even leaving Spring Training, we didn’t know if it was going to work. We didn’t really know how it was going to transpire until we actually did it.”

There is no reason to question this decision now that López has produced a 1.88 ERA through his first 17 starts—owning MLB’s best ERA when qualifying by innings pitched (one inning per games played by team).

Reynaldo and Jhilaris shared an emotional moment on July 7 when he learned he had gained his first career All-Star selection after throwing six scoreless innings to secure a three-game series win over the Phillies at Truist Park.

“When I got the [All-Star invitation] envelope, I took it to the family room to talk to my wife and kids,” López said. “I said they didn’t invite me to the All-Star Game. My wife was like, ‘No.’ I was like, ‘Nah, I’m just kidding.’ She gave me a big hug. She was so happy; more than you can imagine.”

Some might say nobody expected López's All-Star selection this year—but there is one proud wife who would beg to differ.