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Lopez might be the early favorite to open the season as Atlanta's No. 5 starter, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.

Lopez holds a career 4.73 ERA and 19.8 percent strikeout rate as a starter but a 3.01 ERA and 26.6 percent strikeout rate as a reliever, and all but one of his appearances over the last two seasons have come out of the bullpen. However, Atlanta believes they might be able to coax more out of Lopez as a starter, and at the very least it would be easier to stretch him out now before moving him to the bullpen later rather than vice versa. Lopez's primary competition for the fifth spot in the rotation is Bryce Elder, with AJ Smith-Shawver, Darius Vines, Allan Winans and Dylan Dodd also options.

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