This story was originally published on Monday, July 15, 2024.

ARLINGTON -- Did Reynaldo López ever envision he would earn an All-Star selection as a starting pitcher?

¡°That was never in my mind,¡± L¨®pez said with a smile. ¡°I just focused on, ¡®OK, if I do good as a reliever, I know I can get there.¡¯¡±

But even before Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos called this past winter to offer the opportunity to make the transition from the bullpen to the rotation, L¨®pez¡¯s wife, Jhilaris Bautista, was pushing him to reintroduce himself to the starting role.

¡°She was like, ¡®Just think about it,¡¯¡± L¨®pez said. ¡°¡®If you keep doing what you¡¯ve been doing as a reliever, then you can be a great starter.'¡±

She was right.

Consequently, L¨®pez will be joining Chris Sale, Marcell Ozuna and Max Fried as the Braves¡¯ representatives for this year¡¯s All-Star Game at Globe Life Field. Sale gained his eighth selection and first since 2018. Ozuna¡¯s third selection was his first since 2017. This was Fried¡¯s second All-Star selection and first since 2022.

L¨®pez was incredibly thankful that his first career selection was a product of the faith his wife had in his ability to perform like a frontline starter.

¡°It¡¯s great when you have people who have confidence in you,¡± L¨®pez said. ¡°Even me, I didn¡¯t have faith in me being a starter again. My wife was the only one who was telling me I could be a good starter again. She said, ¡®You have a good slider. You have a good fastball. And you¡¯re working on the curve and your changeup. If you have four pitches as a reliever, you¡¯d just be wasting pitches.'¡±

L¨®pez posted a 4.64 ERA over the 65 starts he made for the White Sox from 2018-19. He started to transition to a relief role during the 2021 season, one in which he spent significant time at the Triple-A level. His most successful career stretch came when he produced a 3.02 ERA over 129 combined appearances with the White Sox, Angels and Guardians from 2022-23.

When L¨®pez began talking about free agency last year, he and his agent believed it would be best to stick with a relief role. Fortunately for Jhilaris, she wasn¡¯t the only one thinking her husband might be successful if asked to pitch more than one inning a few times a week.

Anthopoulos proposed the starting role without any prompting from L¨®pez or his representatives, thinking it was worth giving L¨®pez a chance to at least begin the season as the team¡¯s fifth starter. So, he provided a three-year, $30 million deal.

L¨®pez didn¡¯t throw more than 66 innings either of the past two seasons and he hadn¡¯t spent a full season as a big league starter since 2019. But he was excited about the opportunity.

¡°We went into Spring Training open and ready to make any determination that we saw fit,¡± Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ¡°Even leaving Spring Training, we didn¡¯t know if it was going to work. We didn¡¯t really know how it was going to transpire until we actually did it.¡±

There was certainly no reason to question this decision after L¨®pez produced a 1.88 ERA through his first 17 starts.

Reynaldo and Jhilaris shared an emotional, celebratory moment on July 7, when the Braves pitcher learned he had gained his first career All-Star selection. The veteran hurler was informed after he threw six scoreless innings to secure a three-game series win over the Phillies at Truist Park.

¡°When I got the [All-Star invitation] envelope, I took it to the family room to talk to my wife and kids,¡± L¨®pez said. ¡°I said they didn¡¯t invite me to the All-Star Game. My wife was like, ¡®No.¡¯ I was like, ¡®Nah, I¡¯m just kidding.¡¯ She gave me a big hug. She was so happy, more than you can imagine. She told me she¡¯s always been praying for me to be in an All-Star Game.¡±

Some might say, nobody could have expected to see L¨®pez gain an All-Star selection this year. But there is a proud wife who would beg to differ.