Luis Lopez
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 52 | 109 | 10 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 20 | 1 | 0 | .211 | .232 | .321 | .553 |
How do you know things aren't going well? When you pick up Luis Lopez, a switch-hitter who can't hit from either side of the plate, off the junk pile and he ends up getting over 100 AB for your team.
Lopez couldn't even stay on the team in Milwaukee, but when Mike Bordick went down, the O's felt a need to pick someone up, so Lopez was the guy, a typical backup shortstop. 32 years old, doesn't walk, doesn't hit, and doesn't steal bases.
One of the truly amazing things about the 2002 Orioles: Luiz Lopez was Mike Hargrove's favorite pinch hitter. Lopez, who has no power, no patience, and no real ability, pinch hit twenty-two times in 2002. He hit .222 with one RBI in those appearances.
It's not like he started out hot, either. He hit .152 in his first month with the Orioles.
Now, it's one thing to have to pick up a no-hit shortstop when yours goes down. Teams are forced to do it often.
But to use him as your primary pinch hitter?
If any one item encapsulates the Orioles' 2002 offensive season, it might be that stat. Luis Lopez, 22 PH appearances.
TO SUCCESSFULLY CONTRIBUTE IN 2003, HE SHOULD:
(1.) Be reborn to the form he showed his first two years in Milwaukee, and translate that to a part-time job in his new home in Colorado, where he could hit .280 and hit 10 homers in 200 AB if he's lucky.
(2.) Enjoy a farewell tour around the PCL.
NOTES: hit .194 left-handed, .208 right-handed...actually DH'ed one game.