The Braves announced that right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 29, due to right shoulder inflammation. Fellow righty has been recalled as the corresponding move. Per , Elder will take Wednesdays start in place of Lpez. There hasnt yet been any word from the team on exactly how serious they expect this to be, but its concerning on a few fronts. First of all, Lpez also spent time on the IL last year due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Atlanta signed Lpez ahead of 2024 and moved him back to the rotation after many years working in relief. On a rate basis, the results couldnt have gone much better, as he had a 1.99 earned run average on the year. But he went on the IL a couple of times, once due to a forearm i sue and then Kobe Bryant Jersey a second time due to shoulder inflammation. His tally of 135 2/3 innings was his largest in years but still shy of a full starters workload. Now after just one start in the 2025 season, hes back on the IL with more shoulder trouble. There was an argument for Atlanta adding to their rotation this winter but they opted not to, perhaps due to financial constraints. Regardle s of the reasoning, they opened the season with a strong front three of , and Lpez. would eventually rejoin them but was slated for a season-opening IL stint as hes still recovering from last years UCL surgery. Two spots were available behind the Sale/Lpez/Schwellenbach trio. and seemed like the top candidates for those jobs but surged by Anderson during the spring, with Anderson flipped to the Angels last week. With Lpez now out of the picture, they are down to Sale and Schwellenbach at the front, with Smith-Shawver, Holmes and Elder filling in behind them. Perhaps it wont be a long-term i sue. Strider has been building up on a rehab a signment and could be back in the majors shortly. Its also po sible that this injury is fairly minor for Lpez and hell be back soon as well. Regardle s, its another gut punch for the Atlanta fans, who are already having about the worst opening week po sible. The club got swept by the Padres and are currently in the basement of the NL East with a record of 0-4. As if that werent enough, it was that top offseason acquisition has received an 80-game PED suspension. That will put him out of commi sion for a while and make him ineligible to appear in this years playoffs, if Atlanta qualifies. Elder comes up to take Lpezs rotation spot for the time being, though he may only take the ball once or twice before Strider is activated. Elder turned in a 3.81 ERA over 31 starts a couple seasons ago. His production nosedived last year, as he allowed 6.52 earned runs per nine over 49 2/3 innings. Elder gets a lot of ground-balls, but he doesnt have overpowering stuff and gave up a lot of hard contact last season. The Texas product was rocked in his only start with Triple-A Gwinnett this year. He gave up five runs on three hits and uncharacteristic four walks acro s 2 2/3 innings. George Mikan Jersey