Pair of Braves Starters Dazzle in Split-Squad Action

The Atlanta Braves take the opportunity to give two of their starters the ball on the same day. Reynaldo López and Grant Holmes for the split-squad day, giving them both the chance to go through the motions as rotation arms while staying on their current schedules.

Both did what the Braves were looking for them to do in their respective starts.

López took the mound at home in North Port, giving the Braves three scoreless innings. He allowed two baserunners, a hit and a walk, while striking out three. His fastball is still sitting mainly in the low 90s, but he topped out at over 94 mph on the day.

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His ability to mix pitches can help make up for any missing velocity. His slider was working well and an out pitch, along with his curveball. However, his big takeaway was how his changeup looked. He has been putting in the work with that pitch with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.

The changeup had been one of his go-to pitches earlier in his career, but it's taken a back seat in favor of the slider. Further refining his arsenal can only help him as he tries to re-establish himself in the rotation.

Lopez is coming off losing virtually an entire season to a shoulder injury that required surgery. He's had his other injuries since joining the Braves rotation, which has led to questions about whether he can handle the workload.

“I’m without pain and throwing all my pitches. I think I’m close," López said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

So far, he's feeling good about where he's at as he builds back up. He's up to 42 pitches in an outing in spring training. We know at least he's fine at that benchmark. Now, we have to see where he's at, once he's up to 90 to 100 pitches.

Meanwhile, Holmes delivered a similar stat line, going 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out two. He was also making good use of his breaking pitches, with one punch out coming on the curveball, while the other came on the slider.

Grant Holmes has come a long way since he started his rehab | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Both pitches are key to his success, so the effectiveness early as he comes back from injury is promising. His fastball command was a little off, but he's hitting 94 mph on the radar gun. A major note is that he's built up to 46 pitches, about halfway to what is a starter's workload by today's standards.

Rate of strikes thrown aside, he did a job. He limited baserunners and kept runs off the board. Those aren't necessarily the determining factor of what makes for a good spring training start, but it's not something anyone is going to get upset about either.

Holmes is coming back from rehabbing a partially torn UCL. Where he's at is already a major success, since he easily could have been one of the multiple starters missing significant time. He and López can take their time building to make sure they don't push themselves too hard.

It wouldn't be such a bad move to use some regular-season starts as part of their build-up. Maybe get them to 100 pitches by their third or fourth start. It could be a move to play it safe and help ensure their longevity for the season.

Apart from Spencer Strider, who made his spring training debut over the weekend, confirmed Braves starters now have multiple outings under their belts.

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