Jorge Lopez’s move to the Royals’ bullpen could be the best move for everyone
The Royals experimented with Jorge Lopez in the starting rotation. They gave it a look and saw flashes, but they were too often fleeting.
That two-start stretch last season when he held Baltimore and Minnesota to six hits and one walk over 15 stellar innings and took a perfect game into the ninth inning against the Twins was tantalizing.
Let’s not forget that he’d shown enough promise as an amateur for Milwaukee to select him in the second round of the 2011 draft as a high schooler out of Puerto Rico.
But that experiment appears over at least for the time being. Glenn Sparkman took Lopez’s spot in the starting rotation — though his Wednesday night start was cut short because of an ejection — and Lopez moved to the bullpen. If Lopez’s relief outing in Chicago gave any indication, he may be the biggest beneficiary of the switch.
The role is far from foreign to Lopez. Prior to this season, 11 of his 20 appearances in the majors came in relief roles. The right-hander acquired by the Royals along with Brett Phillips in exchange for Mike Moustakas started just two big-league games going into last August.
Lopez, 26, said prior to Wednesday’s game that the biggest difference for him when he comes out of the bullpen was the increased adrenaline.
“In St. Louis I felt that way,” Lopez said, referring to two scoreless innings in a relief appearance last week. “I got my adrenaline so high. I just focused on the target, and I wasn’t thinking what’s going to be the best pitch to this hitter or all the stuff we have as a starter.
“I’m more focused on whatever the game situation and just pound the zone. Try to pound the zone. Try to be down. ... We’ll see if I get another opportunity to be back in the rotation again, but as or right now I’m feeling good. I’m healthy, and that’s all we’re looking for. If I can help the team better as a bullpen guy in big situations, it’s more (important) for the team to get better. “
In 19 career major-league starts, Lopez has posted a 3-11 record with a 6.63 ERA, a 1.59 WHIP and 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents batted .303 with a .369 OBP and a .515 slugging percentage.
In 13 relief appearances, Lopez’s ERA drops to 3.14 with a 1.43 WHIP and 7.8 strikeouts per nine. Opponents have compiled a slash line of .238/.336/.343.
Instead of trying to work through a game plan and set batters up in order to carry him six, seven or eight innings as a starter, Lopez approaches relief outings with more urgency and the mentality that he must attack a hitter’s weakness immediately. He’s able to use that rush of energy he gets when he enters a game to his advantage.
“The adrenaline is always going to be there,” Lopez said. “When you’re a starter you’re thinking more calm down and relax every pitch-by-pitch. (Relieving) you’ve got to make the pitch right away, if not, you’re going to get hurt. That’s my thoughts right now. I’ve got to come from the bullpen and execute the pitch right away.”
This season as a starter, opponents feasted on Lopez the more they saw him. Hitters’ slash lines the first time through the order were .244/.344/.397, but they jumped to .348/.425/.652 the second time through and .333/.365/.750 the third time around.
Wednesday night, when Sparkman got ejected in the second inning for hitting Tim Anderson, Lopez was thrown into the line of fire abruptly. Lopez took the first inning to get his feet underneath him, and he was charged with three of the five White Sox runs.
But Lopez responded with four scoreless innings after he got out of the second. He struck out five consecutive batters in a stretch between the fourth and fifth innings. He finished his five-inning stint with eight strikeouts.
His eight strikeouts tied for the second-most by a Royals reliever in a game, according to Fox Sports Kansas City associate producer and researcher Dave Holtzman. Tom Gordon struck out 10 in 1989.
“I think he’s going to be a really good reliever,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Lopez. “He’s got really good stuff. He’s going to come in on quick burst — anywhere from one to three innings — throw the ball extremely well, be extremely effective, and I just think we got a little glimpse of what he’s going to be able to accomplish tonight.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 2:45 PM.
