Braves move Lopez to pen: A reliever 'for now'
Reynaldo Lopez, who opened the season as Atlanta's No. 2 starter, is moving to the bullpen as Braves manager Walt Weiss shuffles his rotation for a series against Detroit.
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More changes could be coming, with right-hander Spencer Strider possibly making his season debut in this weekend's series at Colorado after opening the season on the injured list because of a strained oblique.
Left-hander Martin Perez (1-1, 2.70 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday night's series opener against Detroit. Rookie JR Ritchie , who won in his major league debut last Thursday at Washington, is scheduled to start Wednesday. Right-hander Bryce Elder (3-1, 1.95) is set for Thursday's start.
Weiss said he expects Lopez (1-1, 3.74) to return to the rotation after he works out mechanical flaws in his delivery. Weiss said Lopez is a reliever "for now."
"We see him as a starter," the skipper said. "He's working through some things, delivery wise, that type of thing, and he's getting right there. And when he's right, he's one of our best starters. He was our No. 2 coming out of camp, even with some of the issues at the end of spring training.