Braves to put Martín Pérez on IL (back); likely out until NLCS

ATLANTA -- The Braves plan to put left-hander Martín Pérez on the 15-day injured list with lower back inflammation, leaving Atlanta short-handed in its starting rotation as the postseason approaches.

Manager Walt Weiss said Pérez, who is 9-9 with a 3.04 ERA in 26 starts this season, likely would not be available until the National League Championship Series.

Pérez pitched 142 innings, his highest since he was an All-Star in 2022 with Texas.

Fellow Braves starter Bryce Elder, who also made 26 starts this season, is on the IL recovering from knee surgery on Sept. 8. He is expected to be out three to four weeks. Reynaldo López, who was part of the rotation at times this season and started 13 games, is on the IL with right shoulder discomfort and has no timetable for a return.

That leaves the Braves with a likely NL Wild Card Series rotation of Chris Sale (14-9, 2.16), Tyler Mahle (7-10, 3.81) and Grant Holmes (10-5, 3.47).

Rookie JR Ritchie (10 starts, 1-4, 4.79) is a potential fourth starter if the Braves advance to the NL Division Series.

"It's not ideal, but a lot of these great stories I'm talking about have been created because of these types of situations," Weiss said. "It's business as usual in there. We keep marching on, and the way things are going this year, somebody's probably going to get a little bigger opportunity and make something of it."