Jorge Yabiel López...Graduated from Caguas Military Academy...Signed with Washington as a free agent on Jan. 11, 2025.
2024
Went 2-3 with a 2.89 ERA, 50 strikeouts and four saves in 52 relief appearances between the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs...Worked 39 scoreless appearances, including 14 consecutive from July 11 to Aug. 16...That 16-inning scoreless streak was tied for the 10th-longest by a National League reliever in 2024...2024 pitch mix: sinker (36.2%), four-seam (20.0%), slider (18.8%), knuckle curve (13.2%), changeup (11.8%).
2023
Split the season between the Twins, Marlins and Orioles organizations, with a combined record of 6-2 with three saves with 22 walks and 49 strikeouts in 61 appearances...Held a 5.95 ERA (39 ER/59.0 IP) in his 61 relief appearances.
2022
Began season in Baltimore’s bullpen...Earned first save of season and second of career in second appearance April 11 vs. Milwaukee, with 1.0 scoreless inning...Converted career-high nine-straight save opportunities from May 23-June 24...Allowed just three earned runs in first 32 appearances from April 8-June 29, posting a 0.73 ERA (37.0 IP, 3 ER) in that span...Did not walk a batter in career-long 12-straight appearances from May 27-June 24 (15.0 IP)…Did not allow a home run in first 32 appearances (37.0 IP) from April 8-June 29, until a Byron Buxton walk-off, two-run homer on July 1 at Minnesota...went on to allow a home run in two straight appearances, including a game-tying solo homer to Jorge Polanco the day after Buxton...Named to American League All-Star team after going 4-5, 1.62 ERA (44.1 IP, 8 ER) with 17 saves in 40 games for Baltimore pre-All-Star break...ranked sixth in AL in saves at break...appeared in the seventh inning of the ASG, pitching 0.2 perfect innings, inducing two groundouts...Acquired by Minnesota via trade with Baltimore on Aug. 2, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Yennier Cano and minor league pitchers Cade Povich, Juan Rojas and Juan Nunez...at time of trade, had allowed just nine earned runs in 48.1 innings pitched, four of which came against the Twins...Earned save in first appearance with Twins on Aug. 3 vs. Detroit, pitching a scoreless ninth inning...Struck out 18 batters in 22.2 innings pitched for Minnesota after striking out 54 in 48.1 innings for Baltimore prior to trade...walked 14 batters with Twins, compared to 17 with Orioles...Held right-handed hitters to a .199 average with 45 strikeouts, compared to .218 with 27 strikeouts vs. left-handed hitters...Ranked seventh in the AL in saves (23) and ninth in save percentage (79.3%)…Posted a 4.8 barrel percentage, ranking in the 88th percentile in baseball...posted a 33.0 hard-hit percentage, ranking in the 86th percentile in baseball...Opponents hit .132 (5-for-38) off his curveball and .188 (6-for-32) with a 37.7 whiff percentage off his slider...Ranked fourth in the AL and ninth in baseball in average velocity on fastball at 97.6 mph...that figured marked a 2.3 mph increase compared to 2021 (95.3 mph), the second-highest in baseball, trailing only teammate Griffin Jax (2.8 mph increase)…Set career-highs in games (67), saves (23) and strikeouts-per-9.0 IP (9.1)…Selected to pitch for Team Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, marking second career selection, also 2017.
2021
Punched out Leody Taveras looking in the third inning on 4/16 at TEX for the 200th strikeout of his career...Pitched the 300th inning of his career on 6/27 at HOU...Played in his 100th-career game on 9/3 at NYY...Registered the first of a career-high five quality starts on 5/26 at MIN...Had a career-long 25.2 homerless innings streak that began with two outs in the second inning on 6/22 vs. HOU, and ended when he gave up a no-out solo shot to Josh Bell in the fourth inning on 7/23 vs. WSH; the four-game stretch without a homer was his longest as a starter; owns two separate eight-game homerless streaks as a reliever...According to Statcast, López threw the hardest pitch by an Orioles starter this season, a 98.5 mph fastball to Juan Soto on 5/21 at WSH; it was tied for the 38th-hardest pitch by any O’s pitcher this year...According to Baseball Savant, his 95.3 mph average fastball velocity ranked in the 79th percentile of all Major League hurlers...Began the season in the Orioles rotation and made a career-high 25 starts from 4/5-8/19; went 3-14 with a 6.35 ERA (80 ER/113.1 IP), 54 walks, 102 strikeouts and a .300 (136-for-454) opponents’ average...His five outings of 6.0 innings-or-more were tied with RHP Matt Harvey for the second-most on the team behind 14 such starts from LHP John Means...Moved to the bullpen on 8/22 and made eight appearances as a reliever through 9/6; did not factor in a decision while posting a 2.16 ERA (2 ER/8.1 IP) with two walks, 10 strikeouts and a .194 (6-for-31) opponents’ average...His career-high 14 losses were tied for the fifth-most in the majors and second-most in the American League; suffered the loss in six straight starts from 6/12-7/9, the second-longest consecutive losing streak of his career...Faced American League East opponents in 16 games (11 starts), going 1-7 with a 7.62 ERA (44 ER/52.0 IP), issuing 25 walks against 47 strikeouts...Placed on the 10-day Injured List with a sprained right ankle on 9/7 before being transferred to the 60-day Injured List on 9/16, ending his season.
2020
Made nine appearances (six starts) with the Orioles after being claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals on 8/9 (made one appearance for the Royals)...Made his Orioles debut with a relief appearance on 8/16 vs. WSH...On 9/4 vs. NYY (G2), he earned his first win as an Oriole, and his first win since 9/12/19 at CWS...In his start on 9/14 vs. ATL, he became the first Orioles pitcher to throw at least 7.0 innings in a game in 2020...Led the Orioles with 30 runs allowed (27 earned) and ranked third in innings pitched (38.1) and hits allowed (43)...Made six appearances (four starts) against AL East opponents, pitching to a 1-2 record with a 7.54 ERA (19 ER/22.2 IP) with 14 strikeouts.
2019
Made the Opening Day roster for the first time and set career highs in wins (4), appearances (39), starts (18), innings (123.2) and strikeouts (109) ... Held right-handed batters to a .241 average (59-for-245), including a .118 average (6-for-51) over 15 appearances from June 21-Aug. 19 ... Opened the year in the starting rotation, but went 0-6 with a 7.07 ERA (39 ER in 49.2 IP) over his first 10 starts (through May 25)…that included allowing seven earned runs over his first three starts (3.71 ERA), before pitching to an 8.31 mark (32 ER in 34.2 IP) over his next eight outings (seven starts) ... Recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in 6.0 innings on April 16 in Chicago, but took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits, including three homers ... Collected eight strikeouts in 5.0 innings of relief on May 29 vs. Chicago, the most strikeouts by a Royals reliever since Bruce Chen (also 8) on June 28, 2014 vs. the Angels…the only Royal with more strikeouts in a relief appearance was Tom Gordon (10 in 6.2 IP) on April 12, 1989 vs. Baltimore ... Earned his first win of the season on June 16 at Minnesota with 2.1 innings of relief to mark his first win since Sept. 8, 2018 at Target Field, when he took a perfect game into the ninth inning ... Made eight of his last nine appearances as a starter, in which he went 3-2 with a 5.89 ERA (24 ER in 36.2 IP)…of the 24 earned runs he allowed in those outings, 11 of them (45.8%) came in two starts, on Aug. 8 at Detroit (4 ER in 1.1 IP) and Sept. 22 (7 ER in 2.1 IP) ... Earned his first career save on Aug. 25 at Cleveland, recording a scoreless bottom of the 10th inning following Ryan O'Hearn's go-ahead homer in the top half ... Went 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA (9 ER in 27.0 IP) and .232 opponents' average (22-for-95) during a five-start stretch from Aug. 19-Sept. 17, including back-to-back wins on Sept. 6 at Miami and Sept. 12 at Chicago…tossed 6.0 scoreless innings in the 3-0 win at Miami, marking his first career scoreless start.
2018
Set career highs at the Major League level in wins (2), appearances (17), starts (7) and innings (53.2) across seven big league stints between Milwaukee and Kansas City...Started his season with Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he went 3-3 with five saves and a 5.65 ERA (18 ER in 28.2 IP) in 24 appearances...Went 0-1 despite a 2.75 ERA (6 ER in 19.2 IP) in 10 relief appearances-eight of which went at least 2.0 innings-with Milwaukee over six stints: April 11-17, May 4-10, May 13-24, June 12-16, July 7-11, July 23-26...Suffered his first loss on July 11 at Miami…recorded scoreless innings in the 10th and 11th, before yielding a walk-off RBI single to Starlin Castro in the 12th ...Acquired by Kansas City with OF Brett Phillips on July 28, for INF Mike Moustakas...Optioned upon joining the Royals' organization to Omaha (AAA), where he made two appearances… earned a 5-0 win over Salt Lake on Aug. 7 with 5.2 scoreless innings and seven strikeouts, his first start of the season...Recalled on Aug. 15 and made his Royals debut that night, a 6-5 loss vs. Toronto (6 ER in 4.2 IP)... Lost his second and third starts with Kansas City as well, on Aug. 20 at Tampa Bay (1 ER in 5 IP) and Aug. 26 vs. Cleveland (5 ER in 4 IP) ...On Sept. 2 vs. Baltimore (1 ER in 7 IP), recorded a careerhigh eight strikeouts and earned his first Major League win in 1,069 days, since Sept. 29, 2015 at San Diego (with Milwaukee), which was his Major League debut...On Sept. 8 at Minnesota, a 4-1 win, he became the first Royal to take a perfect game into the ninth inning, retiring each of his first 24 batters…allowed a walk and a single to leadoff the ninth, and was charged with a run after exiting with a career-high 8.0 innings…run snapped scoreless streak at 14.0 innings...In the Sept. 8 start vs. Minnesota, he opposed fellow countryman José Berríos, marking the first time two Puerto Rican-born pitchers started vs. each other since July 21, 2010, when the Angels' Joel Piñeiro opposed the Yankees' Javier Vázquez, according to Elias...López and Berríos met in their next starts, Sept. 14 in Kansas City…recorded 4.0 scoreless innings before being charged with three runs in the fifth, after colliding with third baseman Hunter Dozier while trying to field a high chopper in the previous frame…exited with a left rib contusion...Surrendered a career-high seven runs on eight hits in 1.0 inning plus three batters on Sept. 20 at Detroit, his final start of the season...Issued just one walk to the last 87 batters he faced over four-plus starts (20.1 IP)…the only walk was to Max Kepler on Sept. 8 in Minnesota, which broke up his perfect-game bid in the ninth inning...Held left-handed batters to a .242 average (30-for-124), but they accounted for five of the six HR he allowed… right handers hit .318 (27-for-85)...Held opponents to a .138 average (8-for-58) with two outs, tied for 10th best in the Majors (min. 60 batters faced).
2017
Went 8-8 with a 4.25 ERA and 7 saves in 39 games (13 starts) at Double-A Biloxi... Made 13 of his first 14 appearances as a starter... Was 3-6 with a 4.61 ERA as a starter (66.1ip, 34er) and 5-2 with a 3.62 ERA in relief (37.1ip, 15er)...Was named Brewers Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April (5gs, 2-1, 1.73era)... Was recalled by Milwaukee on 6/29 and optioned back to Biloxi on 6/30...His only appearance for the Brewers came in relief on 6/29 at Cincinnati (2ip, 4h, 1r, 1er, 1bb)... Made 2 starts for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, going 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA... Earned a win on 3/11 vs. Mexico (4.1ip, 2h, 1r, 1er, 2bb, 5k)... Received no decision on 3/20 vs. Netherlands (2.2ip, 4h, 2r, 2er, 2bb-1ibb, 1k, 1hr, 1hbp)...Pitched for Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League.
2016
Entered the year ranked by Baseball America as the second-best prospect in the organization...Began the season at Triple-A Colorado Springs and went 1-7 with a 6.81 ERA in 17 games, including 16 starts.....was transferred to Double-A Biloxi on 7/25 ...Went 2-4 with a 3.97 ERA in 8 starts at Biloxi...Combined to go 3-11 with a 5.78 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) for the season...Following the season pitched for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League.
2015
Named Brewers Minor League Pitcher of the Year and Southern League Pitcher of the Year after going 12-5 with a 2.26 ERA in 24 starts at Double-A Biloxi…Ranked among the Southern League leaders in opponent batting average (1st, .205), wins (T1st, 12), ERA (2nd, 2.26) and strikeouts (3rd, 137)…Made 2 starts after his contract was selected by Milwaukee on 9/22…Made his MLB debut in a 4-3 win on 9/29 at San Diego (5ip, 8h, 3r, 3er, 2bb, 7k, 1wp).....his first career strikeout was Yangervis Solarte…His other start came in a 3-1 loss on 10/4 vs. Chicago-NL (5ip, 6h, 3r, 3er, 3bb, 3k, 1hbp)…Enters 2016 as the second-best prospect in the organization according to Baseball America.
