Pablo José López Serra (born March 7, 1996) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2018

Early life

López was raised in Venezuela by his father, Danny, and his mother, Agnedis, both of whom were doctors. López graduated high school at age 16, where he became fluent in English, Italian and Portuguese, and was then accepted into medical school. Around the same time, he received a contract offer from the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. He chose to pursue baseball instead of a medical career, to mixed reactions from his family.

Career

Seattle Mariners

López signed with the Seattle Mariners as an international free agent in July 2012. He made his professional debut in 2013 with the VSL Mariners and spent the whole season there, going 7–1 with a 2.57 ERA in 12 starts. He missed all of 2014 after undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

. He returned in 2015 with the

AZL Mariners The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is com ...

, going 2–1 with a 3.13 ERA in innings pitched. He spent 2016 with the

Clinton LumberKings The Clinton LumberKings are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Clinton, Iowa, and play their home games at NelsonCorp Field. From 1956 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest Lea ...

where was compiled a 7–1 record, 2.13 ERA, and 0.91 WHIP in 17 games (13 starts), and he began 2017 with the

Modesto Nuts The Modesto Nuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Modesto, California, and are named for the several types of nuts grown in the region. They play the ...

Miami Marlins

On July 20, 2017, the Mariners traded López, along with Brayan Hernandez, Brandon Miller and Lukas Schiraldi to the

for David Phelps. Miami assigned him to the

Jupiter Hammerheads The Jupiter Hammerheads are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in the town of Jupiter, Florida, Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home game ...

where he finished the season. In 27 games (24 starts) between the two teams, he was 5–11 with a 4.15 ERA and a .271

batting average against In baseball statistics, batting average against (denoted by BAA or AVG), also known as opponents' batting average (denoted by OBA), is a statistic that measures a pitcher's ability to prevent hits during official at bats. It can alternatively b ...

. The Marlins added López to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season. He began 2018 with the

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

and was promoted to the

New Orleans Baby Cakes The New Orleans Baby Cakes (formerly the New Orleans Zephyrs) were a Minor League Baseball team in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They were located in Metairie, Louisiana, a sub ...

in early June. López was promoted to the major leagues on June 30, 2018, and he made his MLB debut that same day as the

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Marlins Park LoanDepot Park is a retractable roof stadium located in Miami, Florida. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins. It is located on on the site of the former Miami Orange Bowl in Little Havana about west of Downtown Miam ...

versus the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. He pitched six innings in which he gave up two runs on six hits while walking one and striking out five, earning the win as Miami defeated the Mets 5–2. In June 2019, López suffered a mild right shoulder strain that led to a two-month stint on the injured list. Overall that season, he was 5–8 with a 5.09 ERA in 21 starts. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, López was 6–4 with a 3.61 ERA in eleven starts and struck out 59 batters in innings. On July 11, 2021, in a game against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, López set a Major League record by striking out the first nine batters of the game. López struck out

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, Guillermo Heredia, Kevan Smith, and

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on 35 pitches during the first, second, and third innings. He finished the 2021 season with a 5–5 record, a 3.07 ERA and 115 strikeouts in innings over 20 starts. López's salary for the 2022 season was decided via the arbitration process; he had asked for $3 million, and received $2.45 million.

Pitching style

López's fastball velocity generally sits between 92–95 miles per hour, maxing out around 97 mph. He uses both a four-seam fastball and sinker. His secondary pitches are the changeup (86 mph average velocity) and curveball (80 mph).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Pablo 1996 births Living people Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball pitchers Miami Marlins players Venezuelan Summer League Mariners players Arizona League Mariners players Clinton LumberKings players Modesto Nuts players Jupiter Hammerheads players Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp players New Orleans Baby Cakes players People from Cabimas