The Minnesota Twins Finally Have Their Ace in Pablo Lopez

[Matthew Taylor]

For 15 years the Minnesota Twins have tried to add an ace to their starting rotation to no avail. On Sunday night, after another dominant playoff start, Pablo López announced to Twins Territory that they finally have their ace.

 

Image courtesy of © Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Ever since the Minnesota Twins traded away Johan Santana they have been in the long pursuit of another ace starting pitcher. They tried the path of developing their own ace through the draft like José Berríos or Kyle Gibson. They tried trading for prospects on other teams like Alex Meyer. They tried trading for veteran starters to get ace-level production like they did with  Tyler Mahle. And they tried signing free agent starting pitchers like Phil Hughes or Ervin Santana. 

Though some of those pitchers turned out to be very good, year after year the Twins ended each season still without that ace level starting pitcher. 

The kind of pitcher who could pitch them out of losing streaks. The kind of pitcher who could thrive under the brightest of lights. The kind of pitcher who could take the ball in game one of a playoff series and deliver a victory. That is what separates a great pitcher from an ace. And that’s someone that the Twins had been missing ever since Johan.

Enter Pablo López.

While the Twins acquired Pablo López in a controversial deal this offseason for fan-favorite Luis Arraez, López quickly pitched his way into Twins fans’ hearts this season, posting a 3.66 ERA in 194 innings while finishing second in the American League and strikeouts at the age of 27. While his numbers this season were excellent, what seemed to most sell Twins fans on the Venezuelan right hander was his mental makeup. Since arriving in Minnesota, López has always displayed the confidence and calmness that you see in an ace starting pitcher. His combination of ability and attitude is exactly the mix that you expect to thrive in the postseason.

Turning the page to October, and that combination of ability and attitude has been on display. Starting with Game 1 of the Wild Card series and López walking into the stadium wearing a Johan Santana #57 jersey, you could just sense the swagger oozing off of the right hander before he even threw the first pitch.

He then followed up that swaggy entrance with a lights-out pitching performance, throwing 5 ⅔ innings and only allowing one earned run. López’s start was the best playoff in the franchise’s history since Johan Santana and delivered the first win since Johan and ended the streak that hung over the heads of Twins fans across the land of 10,000 lakes. 

Then, when you hear Pablo’s quotes postgame and hear about how he embraced the pressure that came with trying to be the guy who broke the 0-18 streak and how “pressure is a privilege”, you once again see the makeup of an ace level starting pitcher.

In order to truly cement his place as an ace starting pitcher, though, we needed to see Pablo back up his performance against the Blue Jays and do it against the defending champions, in their house, down 0-1 in a five game series with our backs against the wall.

Under circumstances where many starting pitchers would have crumbled under the pressure, the Venezuelan took the ball in Game 2 and delivered one of the three greatest postseason pitching performances in Minnesota Twins history, tossing seven shutout innings against an Astros team which led the American League in runs scored in the second half of the season. In what was essentially a must-win game for the Twins, López gave the Twins exactly the performance they needed and completely flipped the ALDS on its head.

That is what ace pitchers do.

While Pablo López was great for the Minnesota Twins all season, ace level pitchers do it in October and López has stepped up his game this postseason with his play, his moxie and his leadership. López has earned the trust of the locker room and the fanbase and is still just 27 years old with a four year contract with the Twins ahead of him. After years and years and years of searching, the Minnesota Twins finally have their ace. Don’t take it for granted.

Do you agree that the Minnesota Twins finally have their ace in Pablo López? Leave a comment below and start the conversation!

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[Otaknam]

Hopefully Baldelli doesn’t screw this up with his dogmatic adherence to analytics. Show some trust in your starters to get through 6 innings or more. I don’t know if the team with offer Sonny Gray a contract, but why would Sonny stay when Rocco doesn’t trust him to pitch more than five innings? 

[D.C Twins]

He is on his way to becoming an 'ACE' but he's got demonstrate consistent excellence over next year and into the playoffs before I can give him that designation. 

He IS the Twins #1 and opening day starter and has all the promise in the world though! 

[Karbo]

No doubt Lopez looks the part of an ace. The hitters failed us in this post season, not the pitchers. Julian and Lewis were great, which gives me hope for the future. I'm guessing the twins will make a qualifying offer to Gray, but my guess is someone else will offer him a longer term with more money. That leaves Lopez, Paddack, Ober, Ryan, and probably Varland unless Maeda decides to stay. IMO they need to add a couple more relievers and maybe a 1st baseman that can crush. Otherwise, they need to work on cutting down the K's. Now its time for the Wild!

[jmlease1]

I am definitely on board with Pablo Lopez leading this rotation. He had an excellent year, healthy and consistent. He's got the arsenal to shut down any lineup, and showed he can be a big-game pitcher. He's shown he has the drive to improve and he's super-smart about his craft. And from everything we've heard, he sounds like a fantastic teammate too.

Taking a shot at Baldelli related to Pablo Lopez is pretty wild: he just had his best season as a pro under Rocco. They worked with him on several things and made changes with him on his pitches and he finished the season strong and healthy (not hearing anyone knock him for a weak shoulder now are you?). He didn't have the same success with the breaking ball before he came here. So why exactly should anyone be worrying about the manager screwing him up? He didn't come here and do the same thing or worse: he actually got better.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

Hopefully Baldelli doesn’t screw this up with his dogmatic adherence to analytics. Show some trust in your starters to get through 6 innings or more. I don’t know if the team with offer Sonny Gray a contract, but why would Sonny stay when Rocco doesn’t trust him to pitch more than five innings? 

You would have thought the Rocco's handling of the SP this year would have eliminated this line of thought.  He got the absolute best out of Lopez and Gray basically all year and the team had a top 3 pitching staff for the entire year.

Gray should consider a pay cut to come back here.  He has had his best seasons here.

Complaining about Rocco's usage of the rotation needs to go the way of the dodo...

[Logi_Clevs]

I think it is cool that it seems that Pablo loves being here. He doesn't seem like a guy who is just pitching for a baseball team just because he has to or because it is his job - I think this year he genuinely enjoyed Minnesota and the Twins family. Him growing up looking up to Johan is another very cool/full circle moment with him. Overall I am very excited to watch him continue to grow and continue to get better in the TC uniform. 

[Woof Bronzer]

I was a bit skeptical at the beginning of the year that he was another #3 guy we seem to stockpile, but his 2nd half was strong and more importantly he was outstanding in the playoffs.  Twins have not had an ace for a long time (despite what many would like to believe) but Lopez fits the bill.  Probably the most promising thing to emerge from the disappointing playoffs.  

[minman1982]

1 hour ago, Woof Bronzer said:

I was a bit skeptical at the beginning of the year that he was another #3 guy we seem to stockpile, but his 2nd half was strong and more importantly he was outstanding in the playoffs.  Twins have not had an ace for a long time (despite what many would like to believe) but Lopez fits the bill.  Probably the most promising thing to emerge from the disappointing playoffs.  

That is exactly what I thought. I am glad Lopez proved me wrong. He should be leading this rotation for several years to come.

[roger]

The best news for me is we won’t have all those posts all winter telling us which older former ace the Twins must sign for hundreds of millions dollars.  Or what good starter the Twins should trade most of their top prospects for.  As long as Lopez stays healthy, the Twins have their ACE.

Now they need a #2.  Will Sonny sign an extension?  If not, will he accept a one year QO which I assume will be offered?  
 

Yes, they have Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Paddack and Varland.  I would really like to see Varland as #6, so they do need one more if it isn’t Gray.  As for #2, could it be Paddack?  Sure liked what I saw this past week.

Sure looking forward to several decisions they will be making three weeks from now.

[GNess]

Lopez has pitched like a # 1 in a number of big moments. He is a # 1. Paddack was a highly regarded prospect that just may be finding himself after numerous setbacks. He could be a # 2 - and with Ryan and Ober being more than solid the Twins have 4/5 of a rotation. 
 

Possibly, they could complete it internally with a number of decent prospects in the system, but I lean towards a solid vet free agent - why. not bring back Maeda if affordable?  

Twins have done a great job building a sound rotation that could hold up for a few years.

 

[RickOShea]

9 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Hopefully Baldelli doesn’t screw this up with his dogmatic adherence to analytics. Show some trust in your starters to get through 6 innings or more. I don’t know if the team with offer Sonny Gray a contract, but why would Sonny stay when Rocco doesn’t trust him to pitch more than five innings? 

Maybe he hasn't earned Rocco's trust, in Rocco's mind.