SEASON SUMMARY

A perusal of the stats leads one to an inescapable conclusion regarding Rodrigo Lopez in 2002:  he pitched quite well.  Examining all big league pitchers with at least 162 innings pitched, Lopez finished in the top 20 in baserunners per nine innings and hits per nine innings.  Limited to the American League, he finished 13th in BR/9IP, 12th in earned run average and seventh in H/9IP.  His 3.57 ERA was nearly a run better than the AL average (4.47).

Lopez was pretty much an unknown quantity when he broke camp with the Orioles at the end of spring training.  He'd had a very ineffective cup of coffee with the Padres in 2000, but the Orioles plucked him out of the Mexican League, and he rewarded them with a fine season for the low, low price of the major league minimum salary.

After five generally effective relief appearances (1.80 ERA in 15 IP), Lopez was inserted into the starting rotation on April 24 against Boston and won the game.  That was the end of Rodrigo's bullpen stints with the Orioles.

Lopez pitched well throughout the bulk of the season--he brought a sub-3.00 ERA into August--though he seemed to run out of gas a bit down the stretch and had some poor outings in August and September (ERA over final two months:  4.94), which is a mild cause for concern.  Still, even over the final two months of the season, Lopez's peripherals weren't that bad (he allowed only one more hit than innings pitched, for instance).  

Rodrigo Lopez pitched at the level of a legitimate #2 AL starter for the Orioles last season.  If he can match or exceed that performance in 2003, the Orioles will have found themselves a very valuable diamond in the rough.  There didn't appear to be anything fluky about Lopez's accomplishments in 2002, so it's not unreasonable to hope that what the Orioles saw last season was the real thing.

TO CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY NEXT YEAR, HE MUST:

1) match or outdo last season's performance

2) avoid the late season fade

3) cut down on the home runs allowed; not that the 2002 totals were that poor, but cut about five-plus home runs off last year's total and you're looking at something approaching a #1 starter

NOTES

Opponents finished .234/.297/.382 off Lopez in 2002...significantly more effective at night (3.35 ERA in 150.2 IP) than during the day (4.30 ERA in 46.0 IP)...slight reverse platoon:  .241/.301/.407 in 349 ABs against RHB; .228/.292/.360 in 387 ABs against LHB...won all three starts vs. Boston...after getting ahead in count 0-1 held opponents to .204/.245/.304 in 357 ABs.

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