In what has been a difficult stretch for the Atlanta Braves, they finally stopped their five-game losing streak with a much-needed 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. While the offense finally came to life after scoring just a combined two runs in the first two games of the series, the starting pitching led by righty Reynaldo Lopez helped lift Atlanta to victory. Lopez pitched six brilliant innings and gave up just two hits, one walk, and struck out eight O’s to get his fourth win of the season. His ERA is now an MLB-best 1.69 as he continues to lead a Braves rotation that lost ace Spencer Strider for the season back in April. Especially after his latest gem against a powerful Baltimore lineup, Reynaldo Lopez is emerging as a dark horse Cy Young Award candidate in the National League.
Reynaldo Lopez Becoming a Dark Horse Cy Young Candidate
Lopez has been everything the Braves could have hoped for after they gave him a three-year, $26 million deal back in November. The offseason addition was actually in a battle for the fifth spot in the Braves rotation and Atlanta awarded him the spot back in spring training. Since then, he has not looked back. While his record of 4-2 won’t blow you away at this point in the season, he has still been pitching very well, especially over his last six starts. He lasted at least six innings in five of those starts and has allowed just seven runs total in that stretch. For a pitcher who has a losing record for his entire career, this has been quite the turnaround for Lopez. If he keeps pitching this way, his career numbers will start to trend in a more positive direction.
Durable and Consistent
On top of his strong outings in his last several starts, Lopez has been durable and consistent all year. Lopez’s shortest outing has been just 4 2/3 innings and he has also gone six innings or more in eight of his 12 starts thus far. The most earned runs he allowed in a game was only two. He’s been sneaky good, to say the least.
For a rotation that was supposed to be known for aces like Strider, Max Fried, and newcomer Chris Sale, it has seemed like Lopez has been overlooked this year. Now after this latest strong outing by the right-hander, it is time to start considering him to be a candidate for one of the league’s most prestigious awards. Even though it is just June and there is still a lot of baseball to be played, look out for Reynaldo Lopez as a dark horse candidate for the Cy Young.
