Jorge Soler's suspension reportedly reduced to 4 games more than a week after Angels-Braves fight

Andy BackstromWed, April 15, 2026 at 7:59 PM UTC

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The seven-game suspension Los Angeles Angels outfielder and designated hitter Jorge Soler was appealing in the wake of his April 7 fight with Atlanta Braves pitcher Reynaldo López has been reduced to four games, according tomultiplereports Wednesday.

Soler will reportedly start serving that ban Wednesday night, when the Angels will play the third game of their four-game road series against the New York Yankees. He piled up three home runs and eight RBI over six games while appealing his initial suspension.

A day after the fracas in Anaheim, where benches and bullpens cleared to break things up, an appealing López reportedly reached an agreement with MLB to reduce his seven-game suspension to five games. Both players were hit with undisclosed fines.

The brawl went down last Tuesday in the fifth inning of a 7-2 Braves win. That’s when tensions boiled over.

Soler, who notably earned World Series MVP honors while helping the Braves win a title in 2021, smashed a two-run home run against his former team in the first inning. It was his fifth homer off López, against whom Soler is now a career 14-for-23 hitter.

Two innings later, López pelted Soler with a 96-mph fastball.

Then, in the fifth frame, López missed on a pitch that played some chin music and hit the backstop. After Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel stole second, the confrontation began to take form, first with a staredown between López and Soler. Eventually, Soler started to approach the mound. He picked up speed after López winged out his arms.

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Soon enough, they were throwing hands. López was even swinging with the baseball still in his right hand. Amid the melee, Braves manager Walt Weiss tackled Soler to the ground, and Angels star Mike Trout pushed López away. Both Soler and López were ejected from the game.

“Obviously, I have good numbers against him,” Soler said afterward through interpreter Jobel Jiménez, per MLB.com. “After the home run and getting hit by a pitch after that, and then he missed way too high and close to my head.

“At this level, you can’t miss like that.”

López didn’t seem to see it that way.

“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” he said at the time through interpreter Franco García, according to The Athletic. “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point.”

Soler homered against the Braves again less than an hour after the news about the original suspensions broke.

On Tuesday night versus the Yankees, Soler was part of a back-to-back-to-back home-run sequence that jumpstarted a 7-1 Angels victory in the Bronx.

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Source: “AOL Sports”