Yorfrank López

Yorfrank Manuel López Tequedor

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 232 lb.

• High School Liceo Dr. Jesus Maria Bianco

• Born December 1, 1990 in Barcelona, Anzoátegui Venezuela

BR register page

Biographical Information

Yorfrank López won a pitching Triple Crown in the US minors and has also played in Venezuela, Italy, Spain and France.

He was signed by Detroit Tigers scout Alejandro Rodriguez in 2008. He debuted for the 2009 VSL Tigers and had a solid campaign at 2-3, 2.23. Had he qualified, he would have been 4th in the Venezuelan Summer League in ERA. He fell to 2-3, 4.97 with the same team in 2010. 2011 was even worse for the VSL Tigers (2-7, 6.94) though he did well in 3 games for the DSL Tigers (2-0, 1.98). He led the Venezuelan Summer League in losses.

Given his 2011 performance, 2012 was a major turnaround as he went 5-3 with a 2.32 ERA and 57 K in 54 1/3 IP (walking only 12) for the GCL Tigers. He led the Gulf Coast League in ERA (.51 ahead of runner-up Sergio Gomez), wins (tied with eight others) and strikeouts (one ahead of Gomez). He and Gomez were the league's All-Star starting pitchers. The last pitching Triple Crown winner in the GCL had apparently been Harold McClain 42 years prior.

López made his Venezuelan Winter League debut with the Tiburones de La Guaira, with a 4.60 ERA and no decisions. He was 8-5 with a 4.89 ERA for the 2013 West Michigan Whitecaps, tying for 6th in the Tigers chain in wins. He went 2-0 with a 1.11 ERA for the Tiburones in the winter. In 2014, he was only 5-12 with a 5.04 ERA for the Lakeland Tigers. He tied Jeb Stefan for the Florida State League lead in losses, giving him two times leading his league in losses and once in wins in his first five years in pro ball. He did not lead the Tigers chain in defeats as Derek Hankins had two more. It would be his last season in the Detroit system.

In 2014-2015, he was 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA for the Tiburones. He joined Padova in the Italian Baseball League for the second round in 2015, going 0-3 with a 5.81 ERA. He had another rough winter (0-2, 9.59) and traded with Rafael Ortega to the Caribes de Anzoategui for Jose Gil and MLB veteran Jose Castillo.

The right-hander was with the Marlins Puerto Cruz in 2016 and dominated in Spain's Division de Honor (12-1, 0.84 ERA, .174 opponent average, 18 BB in 97 IP). He was second in the league in ERA (.14 behind Elian Leyva, .40 ahead of former major leaguer Romulo Sánchez), 2nd in opponent average (.047 behind Leyva), 6th in IP, 7th with 88 K (between Leslie Nacar and Leyva) and 1st in wins (3 ahead of Nacar). He had now led two leagues in wins and two in losses in under a decade since his first contract.

In 2016-2017, he was 0-3 with a 5.61 ERA for the Caribes. His second summer with the Marlins was not as amazing but still pretty good (10-3, 2.11, 113 K in 98 IP) as they won the pennant. He was 4th in ERA (between Kerson Trinidad and Eric Paez), 10th in opponent average (.239), 4th in IP (between Anthony Vizcaya and Zael Honora), 3rd in K (after Vizcaya and Cesar Gonzalez), 3rd in wins (behind Nacar and Vizcaya) and 1st in shutouts (3; no one else had more than one). He went 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA in the winter for Anzoategui.

López's next stop was France. Signing with the Montigny Cougars, he was 7-3 with a save and a 0.50 ERA in 2018, with 107 K in 90 2/3 IP (57 H, 26 BB; .179 opponent average). He easily won his second career ERA title (.97 ahead of Kender Villegas) and also was first in opponent average (.004 ahead of Esteban Prioul), IP and strikeouts (33 ahead of #2 Owen Ozanich), tied Ozanich for 2nd in wins, tied Ozanich for the most complete games (3) and tied for second in games pitched (14, one behind Thomas Meley). Montigny made the finals for the first time but Yorfrank lost twice to Ozanich and the Rouen Huskies in the finals.

With Montigny in the 2019 CEB Cup, he threw 135 pitches in a complete game win over the Astros Valencia, giving up only one run despite ten hits (two walks) and fanning eight. He then no-hit Minsk for 10 innings in the 3rd/4th place game but was matched by Yauheni Kurhun with shutout ball. He wound up throwing 136 pitches in 12 innings (Kurhun threw 186 in 10) for a complete game 3-2 win (2 H, 2 BB, 2 UER, 17 K). He was 8-5 with a 1.97 ERA in the '19 regular season. He tied James Murrey for second with four complete games (two behind Kevin Canelon), was 9th in ERA (between Nolan Watson and Ely Izturriaga), was 9th in opponent average (.205, between Prioul and Watson), was 8th in IP (96), ranked 7th with 106 K (between Canelon and Keivy Rojas) and was 8th in wins. He pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings that winter for the Caribes.

He was on France's announced roster for the 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers when that was one of the first baseball events to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also no French season that summer, also due to the pandemic. He hit .333/.378/.394 with 9 RBI in 9 games where he batted and was 6-4 with a 2.81 ERA. He was third in innings (77, behind Shane Priest and Sam Belisle), fourth in Ks (97, between Belisle and Wilce Nieves) and tied for sixth in wins (with Nieves and Alex Santana).

In 2022, he was 2-1 with a 0.89 ERA despite 19 walks in 40 1/3 IP. He led the French Division I in ERA (.06 ahead of José Paula) and tied Carlos Eusebio for 4th in lowest opponent average (.188). He was on France's team for the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers but did not get into a game.