Jorge López, Jhoan Durán, and the Danger of Being Lost in Translation

Jorge López will be remembered in Twins circles because of the lopsided trade that brought him to the organization. The Twins sent four prospects, including Yennier Canó and Cade Povich, to Baltimore, and López lasted less than a year in the organization. In parts of two seasons, he posted a 4.81 ERA (86 ERA+) with a 1.41 WHIP, while being worth -0.2 WAR. Things couldn’t have gone much worse in Minnesota, but the end of his tenure with the Mets has become even more memorable--for all the wrong reasons. 

On Wednesday, López pitched for the Mets in their 10-3 loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was ejected by third-base umpire Ramon De Jesús, and threw his glove into the stands on his way off the field. Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza referred to the glove toss as “unacceptable.” Mendoza and David Stearns, the Mets' president of baseball operations, spoke with López after the game and decided to designate him for assignment. 

Drama also followed López into his postgame interview, during which emotions were still high from the on-field incident and his meeting with team officials. One of the quotes garnering the most attention was when López appeared to say the Mets were “the worst team in, probably in the whole f------ MLB.” Asked to clarify whether he was saying he was on the worst team, he said, "Yeah, probably, it look like."

However, the words could be clearer, as evident in the video below. English is not his first language, so there may have been a misinterpretation. Some interpreted it as López actually saying, “I think I been looking (like) the worst teammate probably in the whole f—ing MLB.” It’s also easy to notice that he is doing the entire interview without help from the Mets' communication department. López might have made this choice, but having an interpreter there can ease some of the burden for players who do not have English as their first language. 

The Twins may have had a similar situation recently, without the big-market drama associated with López and the Mets. Minnesota was on a seven-game losing streak, and frustrations started mounting for the players and manager. Some quotes came out after a frustrating loss that might have been tied to a translation error for someone who is not a native English speaker. 

The Twins lost versus Cleveland on a walk-off home run, a tough pill to swallow, especially with the team’s star closer on the mound. Jhoan Durán threw a first-pitch curveball to Will Brennan, but stated after the game that he disagreed with that call.

"It's not my decision," Durán told reporters. "I thought that [Brennan] wasn't good with fastballs. I'm an employee here, so whatever I need to throw, I need to throw it."

Some Twins fans were upset with Durán’s comments, because it felt like he was not taking full responsibility or was throwing the coaches and other players under the bus. Durán has been attempting to do more frequent interviews in English, but there can still be errors with phrases or finding the appropriate words. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was asked about Durán’s comments before the next game.

"I think he's just frustrated and was looking for a way to vent," Baldelli said, "I thought it was unusual. I wasn't expecting it. I like to handle our stuff here with a conversation in the clubhouse."

Sometimes, it is abundantly clear what a player means by a specific quote. However, there are instances, like López and Durán, where quotes might not match what the player was genuinely trying to say. MLB continues to grow and become more international, so it is vital to support players so their quotes aren't skewed to grab headlines. After a spate of issues like these littered over the first decade of the 21st century, MLB took steps about 10 years ago to make interpreters available to more players, on a more robust basis. Whatever was meant and whatever was actually relayed in each of these cases, we can be grateful for that progress, but perhaps even more support and care is necessary, on all sides of such situations.

Should teams do a better job of ensuring players are supported during postgame interviews? What’s the best approach for situations like this in the future? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.