Pirates Sign Javier Lopez

Neil Huntington was so fed up with Ryan Doumit's antics last year, that he went out and signed 40-year old former Braves catcher Javy Lopez. That'll teach Ryan to be complain and not put out full effort.

Wait what? Oh Javier Lopez? Well that makes more sense.

The Pirates finally got some left handed pitching. Javier Lopez is 32 years old and spent the last 4 years of his career in Boston. Before that, he pitched 2.5 years with Colorado and a half year with Arizona.

He has put up some pretty good numbers in his career, none of which came last season. In 2006-2008, Lopez had a 2.70 ERA in 158 games (116 innings). He posted a 1.346 WHIP, 5.8 SO/9, 1.36 SO/BB, and 4.2 BB/9. Pretty solid numbers for a guy with average stuff.

Last year was a tough one for Lopez, he posted an ugly 9.26 ERA in his 11.2 innings, walking 9 batters while only striking out 5. His WHIP was an atrocious 2.486. That's a pretty small sample-size there, but it was enough for the Red Sox to demote him to AAA after just 2 months. Lopez pitched 39.2 innings in Pawtucket (the AAA affiliate of the Red Sox) and put up a decent ERA of 3.18.

All-in-all, Lopez is a good addition for the Pirates. He is capable of getting hitters out, especially lefties. For his career, left-handed batters are hitting .247 off him, with a very low .350 slugging percentage. Those numbers aren't the best in the league, but they are more than enough to help out a bullpen like the one the Pirates' have. He brings some experience to the team, and most importantly, the ability to the throw the ball with his left hand.

I'm very pleased with this move. Huntington went out and filled one of the voids the Pirates' had and didn't overpay. Lopez isn't a top-tier pitcher by any means, but that's really not that important when you are talking about relief pitchers (as shown by Tim's most recent posts over at buccofans.com). I expect him to put up solid numbers next season and help the bullpen out tremendously.