Braves make big change at 3B ahead of Phillies series…

The Atlanta Braves may never reach their potential in 2024 and if we had to list one reason why, it would be injuries.

Looking at their roster, just about every impact player has seen some sort of injury. The preseason favorite for the NL Cy Young award, Spencer Strider, went down with a torn UCL, cutting his season short. The preseason favorite for the NL MVP award, Ronald Acuña Jr. lost his season to a torn ACL.

And now the Braves may be facing the most predictable injury yet and they have very limited time to fix the massive hole in their roster.

Reynaldo Lopez, a reliever that was converted to a starter this season, has been spectacular for the Braves in 2024. Five years ago, Lopez was a starter for the White Sox, but he hasn’t thrown over 100 innings in a season since 2019. In fact, over that five-year span, the most he tossed in a single season was 66.

This was a clear cause for concern as the Braves are already struggling with the fifth spot in their starting rotation.

Thomas Erbe of FanSided mentioned this less than a week ago, discussing how the Braves need to be careful with their starters arms.