Since 2015, the Milwaukee Brewers have made fans wait anxiously for one of their more coveted Minor League pitchers to make his Major League debut. The 2015 arrival of Jorge Lopez was the last time fans were treated to a showing of one of the club’s top prospects.
On September 29th, 2015, Lopez made his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Brewers against the San Diego Padres. At that time Lopez was rated as the eighth best prospect in the Brewers’ farm system.
Lopez’ final line in his first game on the big stage was a win after five innings pitched with seven strikeouts. Lopez allowed two walks and eight hits. After his promising debut, Lopez would make one more start that would finish off his 2015 season. He would end his 2015 season with only two starts and a 5.40 ERA with 10 Ks, five walks and a 1-1 record.
That is not too shabby for a September call up and it had a lot of fans excited. Most thought he would be in the Brewers rotation to start the 2016 season. Instead Lopez would begin the year in Triple-A with Colorado Springs. This would prove to be a grave mistake in the development of the young hurler.
Let’s just say that the unfriendly confines of Colorado Springs that have been known to doom pitchers were a tough place for Lopez to pitch. His final line for his time with the Sky Sox was an ugly 6.81 ERA with 66 Ks, 55 BBs, and a 1-7 record.
He would then be sent to Double-A Biloxi, but this demotion may have helped save his career and most importantly his confidence. Lopez would show massive improvement and post an impressive 3.97 ERA with 47 Ks, 16 walks, and a 2-4 record.
Currently, Lopez is still pitching for Double-A Biloxi, and he is continuing to show the Brewers scouts and coaches that he will soon be ready to contribute at the highest level. This season he has posted an impressive 1.73 ERA with 30 Ks, four walks, and a 2-1 record in five games.
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If he continues to produce such dominant results, we will most likely be seeing him with the Milwaukee Brewers by mid-June. Especially if anyone in the current rotation starts to hit the notorious pitching wall that has haunted Milwaukee rotations throughout the years.