'Still there:' Jorge López hits 97 mph in scoreless outing

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- After Jorge López threw his first live batting practice as a member of the Baltimore Orioles’ bullpen last March, he started to cry.

He just couldn’t believe that the radar gun was lighting up at 99 and 100 mph for him. He was overcome, never having expected that from himself. After years of struggling as a starter, he knew this meant he could be a new Jorge López, forge a fresh start. He became an All-Star.

When López showed up to camp with the Twins this year, he felt healthy, but the velocity, the feel -- they weren’t back yet. Seeing the radar gun, López flashed back to the version of himself throwing 93 or 94 mph -- the version who couldn’t get outs. He felt great. He just hoped the velocity would return.

“Just have to figure out what’s going on,” López said on Saturday.

And that’s why López emerged from the visitors’ clubhouse at JetBlue Park on Monday with a wry smile after the radar gun read 97 mph, over and over again, during the third inning of the Twins’ 4-1 loss to the Red Sox. What a difference 48 hours can make.

“I'm happy it's still there,” López said on Monday with a smile. “I'm like, ‘OK, I've got it. I can take a little breath.’”

The version of López the Twins saw last year wasn’t close to the dominant closer who posted a 1.68 ERA with the Orioles -- but it wasn’t quite the old self he was so determined to escape, either. The quality of the stuff was still good, the velocity and movement still there. But in 23 appearances after arriving in a Deadline trade headlined by top prospect Cade Povich, López pitched to a 4.37 ERA, 18 strikeouts and 14 walks in 22 2/3 innings.

But the Twins could see how good the stuff was -- and still is. They need him to wield that with power and confidence once again, and the late-inning success of a bullpen that faltered in high leverage so often last season will depend on it.

“He is a massive part of what we're doing in our bullpen,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Getting him throwing the ball to his absolute potential is of the highest priority.”

So why wasn’t that happening when López arrived in Minnesota last season? Part of it, Baldelli thinks, was the abrupt adjustment from a Baltimore clubhouse in which the right-hander had felt very comfortable. And though López didn’t go into details, he also indicated that other factors were weighing on his mind -- that he has since cleansed over the offseason, he says.

“I was going through a lot at the time,” López said with a sigh. “I felt like the offseason, I took care of it really well and just kind of refreshed. … I tried to be more positive instead of letting negative thoughts run through it. It was huge.”

How do the Twins get López back to the version that he was in Baltimore? They stress the importance of López throwing in the zone, but there was little change in that across the trade, as he threw 53.4% of his pitches in the zone with Baltimore and 53.1% with Minnesota last season -- and he actually pitched from behind in the count less often in Minnesota.

One difference is that López threw a much higher percentage of his pitches with two strikes while with the Twins (48.7% vs. 31.6%), a seeming indication that counts went deeper and he was unable to put hitters away quickly with two strikes. Indeed, his ability to finish off hitters with two strikes dropped by nearly half following the trade.

“A lot of the time, it comes down to just aiming sometimes right down the middle and letting some of the stuff do the work,” Baldelli said. “The more these guys are in the zone, the better pitchers they’re going to be.”

López’s spring debut on Monday wasn’t seamless, as he allowed a leadoff double to Jarren Duran, walked Justin Turner and hit Rafael Devers to load the bases in the third inning. But there were also the two overpowering strikeouts of Masataka Yoshida and Alex Verdugo, and the groundout to end the frame. The good stuff is still there. López showed himself that.

“You're hopeful and you try to remember how much stuff you've been through in the last year,” López said. “So for me, that's one of the biggest things. Not to lose that.”