López caps return to starting role with MLB's first-half ERA lead

SAN DIEGO -- Reynaldo López allowed three earned runs for the first time since April -- and only the second time all season.

Yet he still reclaimed the MLB lead in ERA.

That’s how consistent and effective López has been en route to his first All-Star appearance. A losing decision Saturday afternoon in the Braves’ 4-0 defeat against the Padres at Petco Park notwithstanding, López has given the Braves a huge return on their investment.

“He’s been everything and more than we anticipated,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

The Braves signed the right-hander last offseason as a free agent for $30 million across three years with something else of value -- the opportunity to start again. López hadn’t held a steady spot in a starting rotation since the COVID-shortened 2020 season with the White Sox.

For the Braves, it was a calculated gamble. If the 30-year-old López washed out as a starter, he had shown he could be a late-inning reliever. Even López didn’t know how it would shake out. As he tells it, the only person certain he would re-assimilate so well as a starter was his wife, Jhilaris.

“All I knew was that I was going to come in and fight, to compete and to continue to adjust to a starting role again,” López said, via interpreter Franco García. “Thankfully, they had these plans for me, and here we are.

“I never would have anticipated being the ERA leader or going to the All-Star Game. Credit to my wife, who always believed in me and kept insisting that I can be a starter again.”

López will gladly accept one relief appearance -- in the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard on Tuesday in Arlington. It will fall when he normally would have a bullpen session between starts. Snitker has spoken with D-backs pitching coach Brent Strom about getting López in the game. Strom will be at NL manager Torey Lovullo’s side.

“The timing ends up working perfectly,” López said.

That’s true statistically, too. By going six innings against the Padres, López boosted his season total to 95 2/3. His status as the ERA leader has been interrupted only by falling below the threshold of one inning pitched per team game played. López ensured he’ll hit the break No. 1 with his 1.88 ERA.

That ERA could have been lower, but López cost himself a run by failing to cover first base on a hard grounder by Tyler Wade with two outs in the fifth inning. López thought the ball was headed foul. Instead, Wade reached base, stole second and scored on a double by Luis Arraez.

“That is an error that can’t happen,” López said. “I have to cover first and let the umpire call what he’s going to call. To me, that’s unacceptable.”

Anything less than perfect would have come up short on Saturday with López’s White Sox teammate Dylan Cease in top form for the Padres. Cease held the Braves to one infield hit and struck out 11 across six innings.

“He was hitting 100 [mph] there in the sixth inning,” right fielder Adam Duvall said. “He had his best stuff. I’ve faced him before, and that’s probably the best that I’ve seen him.”

The Braves didn’t break through against the bullpen, either, despite a ninth-inning threat. They were shut out for the fifth time in the past 36 games. They have batted .228 as a team in that span.

The formula for the 2024 Braves, however, hasn’t been offense. It has been strong starting pitching and then protecting the lead if they get one. The second part of that formula didn’t come into play on Saturday. But another All-Star pitcher, Chris Sale, awaits duty on Sunday in the first-half finale.