“Hey, 30-year-old relief pitcher. How about a three-year, $30 million deal to join our rotation this season?”
— The Atlanta Braves.
"Sure, why not."
— Reynaldo López (probably).
What began as an experiment to build rotation depth has yielded not only one of the game's best starting pitchers in 2024, but a ratio darling who was available on most leagues' waiver wires in late March. Let's scan the skills beneath López's 1.57 ERA (lowest among qualified starting pitchers) and 1.08 WHIP in traditional Facts/Flukes form:
| Year | IP | ERA | xERA | BB% | K% | K-BB% | GB/LD/FB | H% | S% | HR/F | Fpk% | SwK% | BPX |
| 2021 | 57 | 3.43 | 3.85 | 6% | 25% | 19% | 39/22/39 | 27% | 73% | 17% | 60% | 11.8% | 131 |
| 2022 | 65 | 2.76 | 3.43 | 4% | 25% | 20% | 38/21/38 | 29% | 69% | 1% | 61% | 15.0% | 154 |
| 2023 | 66 | 3.27 | 4.07 | 12% | 30% | 18% | 39/17/43 | 31% | 79% | 12% | 61% | 15.0% | 112 |
| 2024 |
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