The Atlanta Braves announced the signing of reliever Reynaldo López to a three year deal this afternoon.
López, 29, pitched for three different teams last season, as he was traded from the White Sox to the Angels at the trade deadline and then placed on waivers by Los Angeles in a cost cutting measure.
Across his three teams, he had a 3.27 ERA in 66 innings, striking out 83 batters (11.3 K/9). In similar fashion to several of Atlanta’s recent additions in the bullpen, he’s a flamethrower – his four-seam fastball averages 98.2 mph, 96th percentile in all of baseball, and opposing hitters batted just .188/.226/.319 against it.
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Adding the right-handed López means the bullpen is now comprised of four righties and four lefties, with López joining Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson, and Joe Jiménez in high leverage situations. For left handers, AJ Minter and Aaron Bummer stand to get the most high-leverage usage while the team evaluates the status of the returning Tyler Matzek (Tommy John surgery) and Dylan Lee (shoulder).
It also continues a trend of Atlanta having one of the most expensive bullpens in baseball, with Atlanta sitting as a top five bullpen in total salary before the additions of Bummer and López. Adding those two (plus Minter’s projected $6.5M arbitration award) brings the current salaries of the pen to over $48M for 2024.
It’s also not a guarantee that López stays a reliever – he started 65 combined games in 2018 & 2019 for the White Sox, and early reports are that the Braves plan to try and stretch him out this offseason and in spring training.
