Aquilino López Roa (born April 21, 1975) is a Dominican former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

and the

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Professional career

Lopez was first signed by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners 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 ...

on July 3, 1997, and made his Major League debut on April 2, 2003, after being selected by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

on December 16, 2002, as a

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

ee. He made 72 appearances in 2003 for the Blue Jays, recording 14 saves and posting a 3.42 ERA over innings. In 2004, Lopez was still in Toronto where he pitched only 21 innings in 18 appearances. He was a member of the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

and

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

organizations from 2005 to 2006, mostly as a

Minor League Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

player. Lopez signed with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

before the 2007 season. In 2008, after spending most of the season with the Tigers, Lopez was sent down to Toledo when

Fernando Rodney Fernando Rodney (born March 18, 1977) is a Dominican– American professional baseball pitcher for the Hamilton Cardinals of the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers ...

was activated from the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

. Lopez was called up to Detroit July 2 when Zach Miner was sent to Toledo. Although his ERA on the season was a comparatively low 3.55, he allowed 50.9% of inherited runners to score, the second-highest in the American League. Lopez became a free agent after the 2008 season when the Tigers declined to offer arbitration. Lopez was signed by the

Kia Tigers The Kia Tigers () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are members of the KBO League and are the most successful ...

of the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League () and KBO Futures League ( (F ...

on January 14, . In the 2009 KBO season, he went 14–5 with a 3.12 ERA and 129 strikeouts, leading the league in wins and

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

(190.1). Lopez won Game 1 and Game 5 of the 2009 Korean Series and recorded two outs in the eighth inning of the seventh game, which Kia won on a walk-off home run in the ninth. The Game 5 win was a complete-game shutout. On December 11, 2009, it was announced that Lopez was awarded the KBO Golden Glove Award for pitcher. His final season in Korea was 2012 when he started 5 games for the

SK Wyverns SSG Landers () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team. The team was originally established as the SK Wyverns but was renamed as the SSG Landers in 2021 after Shinsegae acquired the team from SK Group. They are a membe ...

Achievements

*2009 Most Wins title (

KBO The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

) *2009 Most Innings Pitched leader (

) *2009 Golden Glove Award (Pitcher) (

)

Pitching style

Lopez throws an 89–91 MPH

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch (baseball), pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the fastest ball thrown by a pitcher. It is s ...

, a 79–81 MPH slider, an 83–85 MPH

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced spee ...

, a 78–79 MPH

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

, and an occasional 84–86 MPH splitter.

References

External links

, o
KBO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Aquilino 1975 births Living people Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Detroit Tigers players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in South Korea Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Everett AquaSox players KBO League pitchers Kia Tigers players Las Vegas 51s players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players San Antonio Missions players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players SSG Landers players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tacoma Rainiers players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players Baseball players from San Cristóbal Province

Professional career

Achievements

Pitching style

See also

References

External links