Felipe López
Free Agent — No. --
Infielder
Born: May 12, 1980 (1980-05-12) (age 29) Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 3, 2001 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through August 27, 2009)
Batting average	.269
Home runs	79
Runs batted in	378
Stolen bases	115
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2001–2002) Cincinnati Reds (2003–2006) Washington Nationals (2006–2008) St. Louis Cardinals (2008) Arizona Diamondbacks (2009) Milwaukee Brewers (2009)

Felipe López (born May 12, 1980, in Bayamón, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball infielder who is currently a free agent.

[edit] High school career

In 1998, López graduated from Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Florida where he set school records by hitting .521 with 15 doubles, five triples, seven home runs, 28 runs batted in and 34 stolen bases in his senior year. He was also voted Florida's Player of the Year, was a USA Today All-USA selection, and was rated by Baseball America as the best defensive high school shortstop in the country.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Toronto Blue Jays

Lopez was a 1st round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays (8th pick overall) in the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft. López made his major league debut on August 3, 2001, and played second base and shortstop part-time.

[edit] Cincinnati Reds

On December 1, 2002, the Blue Jays traded the switch-hitting Lopez to the Reds as part of a four team trade with the Oakland A's and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Toronto Blue Jays sent him to the Cincinnati Reds, who sent pitcher Elmer Dessens to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks sent first baseman Erubiel Durazo to the Oakland Athletics, who, in turn, sent minor league pitcher Jason Arnold to the Blue Jays. After backing up Barry Larkin during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, López earned the starting job in 2005. López's first season as the Reds' regular shortstop was his breakthrough. He hit 23 home runs and stole 15 bases while compiling a .291 batting average with a .352 on-base percentage. He was selected to the 2005 National League All-Star team.

[edit] Washington Nationals

López with the Nationals in 2008

López was traded by the Reds on July 13, 2006, to the Washington Nationals along with Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner for Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce Clayton, Brendan Harris, and Daryl Thompson, a minor league prospect. In 2006, he tied for the major league lead in errors at shortstop, with 28, and had the lowest fielding percentage (.954).

When first traded to the Nationals, López's original jersey number was 7, however when Damian Jackson was traded, he turned in his number 7 for Jackson's previous jersey number 2.

In 2007, he had the lowest fielding percentage of all NL shortstops, .957, and often found himself switching between the position of shortstop and second base. This switch was due to the recovery of the Nationals original shortstop, Christian Guzman, who had injured himself in 2005, though he later gave the position back to Lopez after sustaining yet another injury during the 2007 season.

On April 24, 2008, López hit a grand slam to give Washington a 7-3 lead in route to a 10-5 victory over the Mets. On July 31, 2008, López was released by the Nationals.

[edit] St. Louis Cardinals

López was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals on August 5, 2008.^[1] He debuted August 6 when the Cardinals played the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played left field and recorded a single in his first at bat, finishing the game 1 for 3. Lopez closed out the season batting .385 with the Cardinals and brought his season average up to .283. He became a free agent at the end of the season.^[2]

[edit] Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 12, 2008, López signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[3] Lopez hit two home runs in his first two at bats in his first game with the Diamondbacks, which is the first time that has happened since Richie Sexson in 2005 with the Seattle Mariners. Lopez and teammate Tony Clark were also the first players to hit a home run from both sides of home plate on Opening Day in a 9-8 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Lopez hit lead-off for The Diamondbacks, and posted a .305 average through 84 games, as well as 6 Home Runs, 25 RBI, and 44 runs.

[edit] Milwaukee Brewers

On July 19, the Milwaukee Brewers acquired López in exchange for minor league outfielder Cole Gillespie and pitcher Roque Mercedes.He went 4 for 4 in his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers.^[4]

In 2009 Lopez tied for the major league lead in errors by a second baseman, with 17.^[5]

[edit] Personal life

• His favorite song is This Is Why I'm Hot which was played when he came up to the plate while a member of the Washington Nationals
• He and his wife, Jennifer, have two daughters, Chaydin and Jaysha.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Yahoo MLB Profile
• 2007 spring training spotlight video from The Washington Post
• Lopez player profile at Scout.com