Bats Right Throws Right Earned run average 4.91 Height 1.83 m Salary 507,500 USD (2016) | Win–loss record 5–3 Strikeouts 42 Weight 84 kg | |
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Date joined 2016 (Washington Nationals, Syracuse Chiefs, ...) Similar Lucas Giolito, Adam Eaton, Trea Turner, Víctor Robles, Joe Ross | ||
Reynaldo Starling López Kely (born January 4, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2016.
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Minor Leagues
López signed with the Washington Nationals as an international free agent in June 2012. He made his professional debut that season with the Dominican Summer League Nationals. López started one game for both the Auburn Doubledays and Hagerstown Suns in 2013. He pitched for the same two teams in 2014, starting 16 games and finishing with a 1.08 earned run average (ERA).
López started the 2016 season with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. After posting a 3.18 ERA with the Senators through 14 starts, he was promoted to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs on June 27, 2016. He appeared in the 2016 All-Star Futures Game, retiring all three batters he faced as a pitcher for Team World.
Washington Nationals
On July 17, 2016, Nationals manager Dusty Baker announced López would be called up to make his major league debut with a start on July 19, 2016, against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. During the game, he gave up a lead-off home run to Chase Utley, allowed three runs in the first inning, and gave up hits to seven of the first 11 batters he faced. After that, he improved considerably, retiring eight batters in a row at one point, striking out six of them. After he allowed three batters to reach base and gave up two more runs in the fifth inning, he was relieved. He had pitched 4⅔ innings, throwing 105 pitches (65 for strikes), giving up six runs (all earned) on 10 hits (including one home run), and walking one but striking out nine. The Nationals lost the game 8-4, and he was the game's losing pitcher. However, he was the first player from the Dominican Republic signed and developed by the Nationals to start a game for Washington – which the Nationals considered a major step forward for their organization – and his nine strikeouts was the second-highest strike-out total for a Nationals pitcher during a major league debut, exceeded only by Stephen Strasburg′s 14 strikeouts on June 8, 2010. López left the field to a standing ovation by Nationals fans. The Nationals sent López back to Syracuse on July 20, 2016, to make room on their roster for relief pitcher Koda Glover, who made his major league debut the evening after Lopez's debut.
Chicago White Sox
On December 7, 2016, López was traded with Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Adam Eaton.
Pitching style
While at 6 feet tall, Lopez is not especially tall for a pitcher—some media stories highlighting Nationals pitching prospects before both pitchers' MLB debuts made note of the height disparity between Lopez and his Harrisburg teammate, 6-foot-6-inches Lucas Giolito—he generates exceptional velocity on his fastball, which he can throw consistently above 95 mph and flash in the triple digits. Lopez also throws a biting curveball and a changeup. He has been mentioned as a possible future reliever, with Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo describing him in 2016 as "a guy that can help in a starting role and in a bullpen role".