ATLANTA (AP) — The Braves placed 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.

Pérez, 9-9 with a 3.04 ERA in 26 starts this season, likely would not be available until the NL Championship Series, according to Braves manager Walt Weiss.

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

RHP Elieser Hernández (2-0, 2.45) was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to replace Pérez on the roster.

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 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. “Its 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.”

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