The Atlanta Braves recently got Reynaldo Lopez back from injury and thrust him straight into the action as a starting pitcher back on the ninth of September in a contest against the Tampa Bay Rays. Lopez was coming off a knee injury, and some rust was to be expected from someone who missed around six weeks.

However, the 32-year-old just didn't have a good start whatsoever, as he allowed seven runs (six earned) in just 4.2 innings of work in a 7-2 loss for the Braves. Nonetheless, Atlanta is at least going to give him one more start as they remain within striking distance of an NLDS bye.

As per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Lopez will be starting for the Braves on Monday in their series-opener against the Chicago Cubs. This would give him exactly four full days of rest between starts, which is customary for starting pitchers in the big leagues.

It's not quite clear yet how the Braves will be setting up their rotation for these next few games. All Atlanta has declared is that, after Lopez's start on Monday, lefty Martin Perez will be taking the mound on Tuesday.

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On Wednesday, one would think that Chris Sale will be making his customary start, which would be his 27th of this season. However, it looks like the Braves are pondering the possibility of giving him more days off than usual with the postseason looming.

As for Lopez, this season has not been the kindest to him. The Braves decided to bring him out of the bullpen after a dreadful start back in April when he allowed four earned runs in just one inning of work against the Washington Nationals.

Lopez then proceeded to come off the pen for nearly two months before bringing him back to the rotation, and then after exactly one month back in the rotation, that's when he suffered the injury.

The Cubs will be a tough matchup for Lopez considering that they have had one of the best offenses in MLB as of late. And this could end up being a make-or-break start for the 32-year-old.