Rodrigo López Muñoz (born December 14, 1975) is a Mexican former 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 t ...

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 ...

and sportscaster. López was a

in the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

in when the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

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) purchased his contract.

Career

San Diego Padres

He worked his way up to the major leagues with the Padres, when he made his debut on April 29, . López did not appear in the majors in , but spent the entire year with the High Single-A

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...

and Triple-A

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

. He became a free agent after the 2001 season.

Baltimore Orioles

López joined the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in where he went 15–9 and in the process was runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year. was a disappointment for López, as he went 7–10 in an injury-marred campaign. In , he was moved to middle relief but pitched his way back into the starting rotation. That year, his record was 14–9.

Colorado Rockies

On January 12, , he was traded to the Colorado Rockies for minor leaguers Jason Burch and Jim Miller. López left a start against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

on July 26, 2007, in the seventh inning with an elbow injury, and he later underwent Tommy John surgery on August 22, 2007. In 14 starts for the Rockies, López went 5–4 with an ERA of 4.42, with 43 strikeouts. He also went 5–1 with an ERA of 3.63 at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The ...

. After the 2007 season, he became a free agent.

Atlanta Braves

On August 22, , exactly one year after his surgery, he signed a minor league contract with 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) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. The contract included the rest of 2008, and , with a major league option. He started his Braves career by pitching for the

Gulf Coast League Braves The Florida Complex League Braves are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Braves. The team plays at CoolTod ...

, before being promoted to Single-A

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. He was released by the Braves in November 2008.

Philadelphia Phillies

On March 5, 2009, López signed a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was called up to the Phillies from the Triple-A

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...

on July 3, 2009, and started that night against 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 ...

, allowing two runs in 6 innings to pick up the win in a 7–2 Phillies victory. It was his first win in the major leagues since he defeated the Phillies on July 7, 2007, as a member of the Colorado Rockies. On September 9, he was released by the Phillies.

Arizona Diamondbacks

López was signed to a minor league contract by the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

on December 16, 2009. On March 30, 2010, Lopez was named the Diamondbacks' 4th starter after having a productive spring training compiling a 2.35 ERA in 5 games with 4 game starts in 15.1 innings. His regular season was disappointing, however, with an ERA of a flat 5.00 starting in 33 games. He won 7 games, and lost 16.

Atlanta Braves

On January 31, 2011, López signed a minor league contract with the

. Atlanta sent him to Triple A at the end of Spring training where he started Opening Day for the

Gwinnett Braves The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...

Chicago Cubs

He was traded to the Chicago Cubs on May 26, 2011, for

Ryan Buchter Ryan James Buchter (born February 13, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels, and Ariz ...

. On April 23, 2012, Lopez was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

to make room on the roster for newly acquired Michael Bowden. After clearing waivers, he was sent back to Triple-A

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Broadcasting career

On December 6, 2013, the Diamondbacks announced that López was hired to join their Spanish language radio broadcast team as the color analyst alongside play-by-play announcer Oscar Soria.

Personal life

His parents are Isabel and Raúl López, he has a brother named Raúl as his father. They live in Mexico City. He is married to Romy, and the couple have two boys: Rodrigo Jr. (born March 7, 2003) and Raymond (born March 17, 2005).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Rodrigo 1975 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks announcers Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Padres players Baltimore Orioles players Bowie Baysox players Chicago Cubs players Clinton LumberKings players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Diablos Rojos del México players Gulf Coast Braves players Gwinnett Braves players Idaho Falls Braves players Iowa Cubs players Lake Elsinore Storm players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball players from Mexico Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Mexican League baseball pitchers Mobile BayBears players Petroleros de Poza Rica players Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players Rome Braves players San Diego Padres players 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players 2013 World Baseball Classic players People from Tlalnepantla de Baz