López, who has been on the injured list since August 2, made a third rehab appearance on Thursday, throwing five scoreless innings, striking out six and walking two while allowing two hits for Triple-A Gwinnett. He threw 93 pitches, 53 of which were strikes.
It remains to be seen what role he’ll serve upon returning to the Braves. Atlanta wants to keep López stretched out to serve as an insurance option for the rotation. The 32-year-old had a 3.64 ERA in 71 2/3 innings across 24 outings, 11 of which were starts, before his injury.
López made his first five appearances of the season in the rotation, spent significant time in the bullpen in the middle of year and had six straight starts before the injury.