Javier López

For the MLB catcher, see Javy López.

Javier López
López with the San Francisco Giants in June 2011
San Francisco Giants – No. 49
Relief pitcher
Born: July 11, 1977 (1977-07-11) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 3, 2003 for the Colorado Rockies
Career statistics (through September 28, 2011)
Win–Loss	20-11
Earned run average	3.96
Strikeouts	230
Saves	5
Teams
Colorado Rockies (2003–2005) Arizona Diamondbacks (2005) Boston Red Sox (2006–2009) Pittsburgh Pirates (2010) San Francisco Giants (2010–present)
Career highlights and awards
2x World Series champion (2007, 2010)

Javier Alfonso López (born July 11, 1977) is a Puerto Rican-American baseball player. A relief pitcher, he currently plays for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. López previously pitched for the Colorado Rockies (2003–2005), Arizona Diamondbacks (2005), Boston Red Sox (2006–2009) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2010). He is a left-handed specialist known for his sidearm delivery. He also bats left-handed.

Pre-Major League career (1998–2002)

López and his first wife attended Robinson Secondary School In Fairfax, Virginia. Growing up, his dream was to be an FBI agent like his father.

He went to college at the University of Virginia and played for the Virginia Cavaliers baseball team. Through August 2011, he was one of 29 former UVA players to have made it to the major leagues, along with among others former Cavaliers Michael Schwimer, Mark Reynolds, and Ryan Zimmerman. While playing at UVA, he went 12–9 with a 6.30 ERA. He had a batting average of .319, 15 home runs, and 71 RBI. He played one year with the El Paso Diablos of the double-A Texas League in 2002. He played in 61 games as a reliever, with only a .204 opponent batting average. That year, he went 2–2 with a 2.72 ERA. He also did not allow an earned run in 53 of his relief appearances.^{[citation needed]}

2003 and 2004: Colorado Rockies

López made his MLB debut for the Colorado Rockies on opening day in 2003. He played in 72 games, the third-most among rookies in the major leagues. He had a 4–1 record, a 3.70 ERA, and 1 save. López almost tied a franchise record by retiring 18 straight hitters over the span of 17 days, but he fell short of the record of 21 set by Darren Holmes in 1996.

López started off badly in 2004, going 1–2 with a 7.52 ERA in 64 games by mid-season. He was then sent down to Triple-A (AAA) Colorado Springs during the middle of the summer. While in AAA, he went 0–1 and had a 4.00 ERA. He was called back to the majors in August and played the rest of the season in Colorado.

2005: Arizona Diamondbacks

López was traded from Colorado in the middle of the 2005 season to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He had another poor season, having a record of 1–1 and an 11.02 ERA, the highest in the majors. He was sent down to the AAA Tucson Sidewinders in July and went 0–1 with a 2.22 ERA while finishing the 2005 season there.

2006–2009: Boston Red Sox

López played for both the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox in 2006. Playing for the AAA Charlotte Knights, he was 2–1, had 12 saves, and had a 0.55 ERA. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox on June 15, finishing the year going 1–0 with a 2.70 ERA.

In 2007, López had a good year, making 61 relief appearances over three major league stints with the Red Sox. He had a 2–1 record with a 3.10 ERA. He made 40 appearances for the Pawtucket Red Sox, going 2–1 with a 3.78 ERA. López was a member of the 2007 World Series championship roster for the Red Sox. On 18 January 2008, López agreed to a one year contract with the Red Sox for $840,000, avoiding the arbitration process. On April 30, 2009, Lopez allowed five runs in ¹⁄₃ inning and played the remainder of the eighth inning in right field after Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona switched Javier Lopez with right fielder Jonathan Van Every. This was the first time a Red Sox pitcher has played another position in a major league game since Tom Burgmeier on August 3, 1980. On May 10, 2009, Javier was designated for assignment to make room for pitcher Daniel Bard. On May 15, 2009, he was outrighted to AAA Pawtucket.

2010: Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 18, 2009, Lopez signed a 1 year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he became the left-handed specialist replacing John Grabow who was traded mid-2009.

San Francisco Giants

On July 31, 2010, Lopez was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Martinez and John Bowker. He appeared in 27 games for the Giants, earning a 2–0 record with an ERA of 1.42. His combined record of 4–2 for the year with both Pittsburgh and San Francisco came in 77 appearances with an ERA of 2.34, both career records. Left-handed batters hit only .162 against Lopez, lowest among all National League left-handers (minimum 85 at-bats). He ended the season five days short of qualifying for free agency.

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans

References

13. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lopezja02.shtml

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• The Boston Globe (news)