Arturo López

Javier Arturo López López

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.
• School Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa
• Debut April 29, 2009
• Final Game May 10, 2009
• Born February 22, 1983 in Culiacan, Sinaloa Mexico

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Biographical Information

Arturo López has gone 38-39 in the minor leagues through 2008. He made his major league debut with the San Diego Padres in 2009.

López signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2001 and had a fine debut with the GCL Dodgers, going 5-1 with a save and a 2.04 ERA. He allowed only 58 hits or walks in 61 2/3 innings, the lowest rate in the Gulf Coast League. He was 9th in the GCL in ERA. In 2002, Arturo went 7-3 with a 3.66 ERA for the Great Falls Dodgers and allowed 4 (2 earned) runs in 1/3 of an inning for the Vero Beach Dodgers. He was second in the Pioneer League in wins (one behind Santos Hernandez), third in innings (76 1/3), 5th in strikeouts (72) and 8th in ERA.

The southpaw split 2003 between Vero Beach (1-1, 4.32 in 11 G) and the South Georgia Waves (1-4, 8.68 in 20 games; 48 hits, 15 walks in 37 1/3 innings). In '04, he went 5-4 with a 4.76 ERA for the Columbus Catfish. He was picked by the San Diego Padres in the AAA phase of the 2004 Rule V Draft. In 2005, López had a 5-11, 5.75 record for the Lake Elsinore Storm. He split 2006 between Lake Elsinore (0-1, 6.28), the AZL Padres (1 run in 1 inning), the Mexico City Red Devils (2-3, 8.49) and Mobile BayBears (0-1, 5.09 in 14 games).

In 2007, Arturo pitched for Mexico City (1-2, 2 Sv, 5.19) and the San Antonio Missions (2-2, 4.54 in 30 games). He pitched for Mexico in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, allowing 3 runs and striking out 6 in 5 2/3 IP.

He was awful for the 2008 Portland Beavers (0-3, 18 H, 11 BB, 18 R in 12 1/3 IP) but did well for Mexico City that year (9-3, 3.45). In the 2008-2009 Mexican Pacific League, he went 6-2 with a 2.50 ERA and .196 opponent average for the Caneros de los Mochis. He was then placed on the provisional Mexican roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic but did not make the final cut.

López began the 2009 season back with Portland and had a 3.21 ERA after 7 games. He was then called up to replace Mike Ekstrom. He made his MLB debut on April 29th, relieving Cla Meredith with a 5-0 deficit in the 6th, one out and a man on third. He promptly walked Seth Smith on four pitches, then issued a free pass to Ryan Spilborghs. Todd Helton singled in two runs. Arturo then plunked Ian Stewart. Luis Perdomo relieved the southpaw, who had obviously made a forgettable debut in The Show. On June 19th Arturo was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets.

Sources

• MILB.com
• SABR Database
• 2008 Padres Media Guide
• IBAF

Related Sites

• Arturo Lopez on mlb.com