Reynaldo López

Reynaldo Starling López Kely

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• Debut July 19, 2016

• Born January 4, 1994 in San Pedro de Macoris, San Pedro de Macoris, D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Reynaldo López was signed by the Washington Nationals as an amateur free agent before the 2012 season. After spending thet first year with the DSL Nationals, he moved over to the United States in 2013, suiting up for one game each for the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League and Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League. His ERA was 16.,88, the result of giving up 7 runs in an inning and a third in his only start for Auburn. He was back with that team in 2014 and did much better, going 3-2, 0.75 in 7 starts, earning a second chance at Hagerstown, where he went 4-1, 1.33. His combined record of 7-3, 1.08 in 16 starts thus put him on the prospect radar map.

Reynaldo spent the 2015 season in the Carolina League with the Potomac Nationals where he went 6-7, 4.09 in 19 starts. He also struck out 94 batters in 99 innings while walking only 28. In 2016, he began the season with the Harrisburg Senators of the AA Eastern League where he was 3-5, 3.18 in 14 starts. He was promoted to the AAA Syracuse Chiefs at the end of June, then played for the World team in the 2016 Futures Game at Petco Park in San Diego, CA. Things went quickly from there, as on July 19th, he was called up to the nation's capital to make his debut with the Washington Nationals, starting against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He found the going a bit rough, as he gave up 6 runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings and was charged with the 8-4 loss. The first batter he faced in the majors, Chase Utley, touched him for a solo homer, but he also struck out 9 batters with his fastball reaching the upper 90's on the radar gun. He pitched 11 times for Washington, including 6 starts, going 5-3, 4.91. In 44 innings, he struck out 42 batters, and also appeared once in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. On December 8th, he was one of three young pitchers, along with Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning, to be traded to the Chicago White Sox in return for CF Adam Eaton.

In 2017, he went 3-3, 4.72 in 8 starts for Chicago while spending the bulk of the season with the Charlotte Knights of the International League. He then spent a full season in the Windy City in 2018, making 32 starts and pitching 188 2/3 innings while finishing up at 7-10, 3.91. His nice season went under the radar given he was pitching for a rebuilding team that was never in contention. He started off the 2019 season slowly and after 5 starts was 1-3, 7.46. On April 28th, however, he pitched a gem against the Detroit Tigers as he gave up just 2 hits and one unearned run in 6 innings, while striking out 14 batters. Three relievers - Jace Fry, Kelvin Herrera and Alex Colome - each pitched one inning and struck out two batters each to allow the Sox to be the 7th team to tie the major league record of 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. Lopez received credit for the 4-1 win. On August 25th, he took the mound with the flu but still managed to pitch 5 hitless innings against the Texas Rangers before he had to be taken out, feeling the ill-effects of dehydration and other symptoms. Aaron Bummer took over for him and allowed a single to the first batter he faced, Shin-Soo Choo, but that was the only hit allowed by four relievers as Lopez received credit for the 2-0 win. He had another great start on September 5th, this time against the Cleveland Indians as he pitched the first complete game of his career, spinning a one-hitter for a 7-1 win. The only hit he gave up was a double by Kevin Plawecki in the 2nd, which drove in Jake Bauers who had walked earlier in the inning. He struck out 11 and walked 3 and retired the final 16 batters he faced. he finished the season at 10-15, 5.38, leading the American League with 110 earned runs allowed.

Lopez struggled during the abbreviated 2020 season, making 8 starts for Chicago and finishing at 1-3, 6.49. The White Sox made it to the postseason, but he did not see any action. In 2021, he made 9 starts in 20 appearances and improved to 4-4, 3.43, with 55 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings. He did play in the postseason that year, pitching a couple of innings against the Houston Astros in the Division Series, and giving up 1 run. In 2022, he was a full-time reliever, making just 1 start in 61 appearances and putting up good numbers. He went 6-4, 2.76, logging 65 1/3 innings and striking out 63 batters while allowing just 11 walks. He was back in the same role in 2023, making 40 appearances out of the bullpen in the season's first four months. His numbers were not as good, as he was 2-5, 4.29, although he did pick up the first 4 saves of his career. On July 26th he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels alongside fellow veteran pitcher Lucas Giolito in return for two prospects, P Ky Bush and C Edgar Quero.

Further Reading

• Bob Nightengale (USA Today): "Angels put Shohei Ohtani trade rumors to rest with big-time deal for Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez", Yahoo! Sports, July 27, 2023. [1]

Related Sites

• Reynaldo López on mlb.com
• BR Minors page