Braves' Reynaldo Lopez: Decreased velocity Friday
Lopez surrendered five runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk over 3.1 innings in Friday's Grapefruit League game versus the Twins. He failed to record a strikeout.
Lopez worked up to 57 pitches (36 strikes) Thursday compared to 44 in his previous outing, though his velocity was noticeably down and inconsistent, as noted by David O'Brien of The Athletic. He averaged just 93 mph on his fastball after averaging 95.5 mph with his heater in 2024, and his slider and curveball experienced similar drops in speed as well. Arm fatigue is fairly common at this stage in spring training, though it may be worth keeping an eye on Lopez, who had issues with a tired arm last season after making the move from the bullpen to the rotation.
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