He's going to be OK, folks. He's just working on stuff.
In terms of results, right-hander Pablo López is having one of the worst Grapefruit Leagues of his career. He allowed four runs, eight hits and three walks Monday to the Phillies, which means his ERA in three appearances this spring is 9.35. He's allowing just over 2 1/2 base runners per inning.
It's a good thing reliever Brady Feigl stranded four of the runners López left for him, or else López's ERA would be even worse. Not that his ERA in Spring Training matters much. López's ERA, or anyone's.
So please don't worry, López told reporters at Hammond Stadium. López admitted to making mistakes within the strike zone after getting ahead in the count, but he emphasized that his approach in the practice game was different from what it would be in the regular season.
"I was too close to the zone," López said. "I was giving up a bunch of singles and a lot of them came with two strikes. Those are the times, when in those kill counts, I didn't go for the kill."
There's no crying in baseball, and there's no killing in Spring Training. At least not today. López even took some positives from the outing, like living to pitch another day.
"The ball was coming out of my hand the best of any of the three games," López said. "I like the way my body responded. I felt later in the outing, despite the long, taxing innings, my stuff was still there.
"Big picture... within the process of building up [for the season], I felt pretty good."
Some of López's underlying statistics looked good. His fastball reached 96.8 mph and averaged 95.7, right where it should be. All of the hits he allowed were singles. Most of the contact he allowed came on (or near) the ground. The furthest anyone hit the ball was about 215 feet. He threw 78 pitches, getting the "ups" he was looking for.
López's worst spring ERA 10.13 ERA in three spring outings in 2022 with the Marlins. That was his worst spring. López probably was working on stuff in '22, too. It should be noted that López hasn't had great results in spring in four years. Since '22, over 39 2/3 innings in Spring Training, López in has a 7.49 ERA.
It's because he's working on stuff.
Just a year ago, López allowed six homers in 14 innings of Grapefruit play, and finished with a 7.07 ERA. He was working on stuff then, too.
His ERA is never anything like 7-something or 9-something once the real season starts. Manager Rocco Baldelli said the Twins got what they needed from López, because he's a little closer to being prepared for the regular season, which is still 2 1/2 weeks away.
"Very, very goods midseason-type stuff that he was using," Baldelli said. "He lived in the heart of the zone and that's part of what happened today. We're midway through Spring Training, so he has time to work on that. But we'll take it. It was a productive day for Pablo today."
Productive because: López was working on stuff.