Pablo López's Pursuit of the Next Level Has No Offseason

[Lou Hennessy]

The Twins’ season ended over a week ago, but Pablo López is already reaching new heights. How good was the club’s budding ace, and what does his next level look like?

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

This year, there weren’t many notable individual accomplishments in the Twins’ postseason run. But undoubtedly, one of the shining achievements was staff ace Pablo López emerging as a true frontline starter on a national stage. 

In his two starts, the 27-year-old righty totaled 12 ⅔ innings pitched with 10 strikeouts and three walks, giving up just one earned run while he led his team to two massive wins. We’re talking about a tiny sample size with just two games, but these performances came after the best season of López’s career. He had a career-high in innings pitched (194), strikeout percentage (29.2%), and fWAR (4.5) in his first year with the Twins and named as a finalist for this year’s Gold Glove award among pitchers. 

When asked about his first season with the Twins organization at various post-game appearances throughout the year, López lauded the information he received from the club’s baseball operations department, especially as it pertained to building and developing a sweeper. 

“The Minnesota Twins are willing to provide us with every single resource, every single opportunity to get better as a player,” he said in a press conference in late April after signing a four-year extension with the club. “In spring training, the first thing we did was sit in a room for three days straight to really get to know my identity. Then it was finding out what that next gear is that we can find.”

López and the Twins indeed found that next gear, and it led him to an All-Star selection and his team to their first playoff win in nearly two decades. But with that memorable season in the rearview mirror, he is already gearing up for 2024. 

López was recently spotted at Driveline’s facility and underwent a thorough assessment. For those who don’t know, Driveline is a data-driven development program that has been successful for countless major leaguers, especially pitchers. Their research has a reputation for helping pitchers gain strength and velocity, using state-of-the-art tools to train and develop their clients. 

Driveline isn’t new to López, or the Twins, for that matter. The righty also visited their facility before the start of this season. But now that he’s shown considerable progress in a career year, López, the staff at Driveline, and the Twins’ training staff can access even more data as they determine what clicked for him in 2023. The goal would be to maintain that success while finding that next gear, as López said. 

So, what does that next level look like? López was above average in most areas in 2023, so where could he find significant improvement?

While his four-seam fastball was still a great option in his repertoire, it got hit harder than his sweeper, changeup, and even his curveball. Opponents hit .268 on that offering, with a rather-high .468 slugging percentage. Now, there is a lot of nuance as to why that could be, and more brilliant minds would better diagnose any hypothetical issue with the pitch. But adding more velocity to his heater (which averaged a respectable 94.9 MPH in 2023) could be that marginal improvement that pays dividends in the future. It could be that extra gear that helps López continue climbing that hill. And Driveline can help him figure out when and how to switch gears as he makes his ascent. 

That next level could mean a new high-water mark for innings pitched if he can stay healthy as he did this season. It could mean even more strikeouts if he can get his fastball to play up or add a few ticks of velocity. It could mean even further development of his sweeper, which he used to get a swing-and-miss 36.6% of the time. Those could lead to additional accolades for López, whether that means getting the starting nod on Opening Day, another All-Star selection, or even Cy Young award consideration.

But if you ask López what that next level is, he almost certainly would talk about what it would mean for his team. That means more postseason appearances and even further success.

“I just want to go out there and give the team the best chance to win,” he said in an in-game interview during his gem of a start in Game 2 versus the Astros. “It’s the preparation, routine, and discipline that gets you here.”

What do you think? What does Pablo López’s next level look like? How do you think he gets there? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and as always, keep it sweet. 

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[Patzky]

Statistically it's hard to complain. Pablo always seemed in control even after he had a vulnerable stretch; his post game interviews and in-game demeanor reflected that control. It was hits, not walks that would be the culprit.. his control is pretty impeccable. If the fastball was the most (ha!) hittable it makes sense that adjusting velocity or release would make for a more effective Pablo. But honestly.. how can we complain? He's the consummate pro.

[Fatbat]

Lopez can certainly end up a Cy Young. A dozen more starts that take him thru the 7th inning get him there.  A lot goes into a pitcher consistently going 7 innings and completing controlling those games. The kid is a stud and he is obviously committed to being the best of the best.

[Doctor Gast]

Lopez has always been on my radar, very glad we got him. With his determination, grit & character I see him follow the route of Johan Santana & could even surpass him.

The Lopez/ Arraez trade was beneficial to both sides. I'd like to see more MIA pitcher/ MN hitter trades.

[Karbo]

The Twins traded away a high quality hitter to get a high quality Pitcher. In his 1st year with the Twins, Lopez showed us why. If he can build more then last year with the help of Driveline he should be one of the very best 4 or 5 in the league.

[tony&rodney]

200+ innings are a fair number to assess a successful season. The manner in which teams restrict pitcher usage makes reaching 200 innings a task for any pitcher in the game today. Only five in 2023, eight in 2022, and four pitchers in 2021 were able to throw 200 innings. If Pablo Lopez can throw 200+ innings in 2024, we can expect a high level of excellence and success in his starts because pitchers who struggle in innings 4-7 are lifted for a reliever pretty quickly. Pablo is a great pitcher with a fine repertoire of pitches that he knows how to use and avoiding the IL is a huge must for him and the Twins. If we can look through his stats at the end of the 2024 campaign and see 200+ innings, all other numbers will fall into the plus-plus category. Health is crucial.

[sun]

The Twins rewarded him with a nice extension contract which should help to provide him with enough incentive to remain as sharp & competitive as possible. It's always nice to see a pitcher get the run support they need to win games because the stats don't mean as much as the wins. He just needs to keep finding ways to win by beating the opposing hitters at the most crucial moments in a game. If he can tap his clutch gene, especially in the post-season that's all that the fans can ask for. It's the big moments that fans remember the most.

[DocBauer]

I'd take an identical season in 2024 and be very happy.

The only negative I really saw all year was a handful of games where he just nicked and blooped to death in some innings and couldn't seem to get out of them. I don't know if that's experience or a certain pitch he could throw better.

Nothing wrong with trying to get better. I'm just not sure how much better he can get other than a few less of those innings. 

 

 

[Brandon]

On 10/21/2023 at 7:22 AM, Doctor Gast said:

Lopez has always been on my radar, very glad we got him. With his determination, grit & character I see him follow the route of Johan Santana & could even surpass him.

The Lopez/ Arraez trade was beneficial to both sides. I'd like to see more MIA pitcher/ MN hitter trades.

Before we signed him Minnesota tried to trade for Nolasco.  Is that what you mean?