KANSAS CITY -- Three months after he last took a Major League mound, Pablo López looked an awful lot like… Pablo López.
The Twins' star right-hander made his return at Kauffman Stadium after missing half a season due to a strained teres major muscle in the back of his right shoulder, and he looked like he never left. López pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out four and issued a walk in the Twins’ 2-1 loss to the Royals.
“He came out and reminded us all of all the great things that he does,” said manager Rocco Baldelli.
López wasn’t perfect. He made a couple mistakes, most notably the middle-middle sweeper than Maikel Garcia drilled for a two-run homer in the third inning. But overall, he pitched to the standard that the Twins have come to expect over López's three years in a Minnesota uniform. He got better as he went along.
“I would be lying if I told you I wasn't having a lot of, like, heart-beating-fast moments in that first inning,” López said.
“Everything got fast, but I knew that I was going to have to find ways to slow things down, and then just do what I'm supposed to do when I'm on the big league mound -- just executing, competing against what's in front of me, and letting my natural abilities take over. Not overthinking.”
His stuff looked, well, normal. López’s average fastball velocity clocked in at 94.3 miles per hour, just slightly down from his season average. His sinker, the few times he threw it, actually came in a bit above its average velocity for the year. López’s 10 swinging strikes on 92 pitches (10.8 percent) were just a bit down from his usual rate for the year (12.1), but only a bit.
The most notable changes came not in stuff or location, but selection. López leaned heavier on his sweeper and curveball than usual. He and catcher Jhonny Pereda, making his first start in a Twins uniform, both explained that was part game plan, and part simply reacting to how they were faring with those pitches.
“It’s both preparing for the opponent and also seeing how the pitches are moving,” López said. “The results I’m getting, the swings I’m getting, or am I locating them enough. It’s just sometimes, because they are two different pitches, one breaks more to the glove side, one has more depth, you can interchange them a little bit.”
As for Pereda, it was a memorable day for him as well. A fellow Venezuelan and longtime acquaintance of López’s, he caught an early morning flight from Louisville to join the Twins as a result of Ryan Jeffers’ uncertain status from a head contusion. Pereda caught two of López’s rehab starts at Triple-A, and the two knew each other dating back to their time together in the now-defunct Venezuelan Summer League.
It worked out beautifully. Pereda doubled and walked in his Twins debut, picked off a runner from second in a key situation and drew high marks from López for his game calling. The right-hander had assured Baldelli before the game that he’d be happy to throw to Pereda Friday if that’s what was needed.
“That made me feel confident behind the plate, because we talked a lot when he was in Triple-A,” Pereda said. “I try to be on the same page with every pitcher. That’s the most important, to be on the same page, to try to call whatever they want and make them feel comfortable on the mound.”
And López certainly seemed comfortable and confident. After 13 1/2 weeks away, though, mostly he was just happy to be back in a game.
“I hated [being away],” he said. “I hated it. There’s no other thing I could say. It was really hard. Being in rehab, it’s like psychological warfare. You feel like you’re in everyone’s way. You feel like you can’t contribute. I may be exaggerating with this word, but you feel like you’re useless. You can’t do anything other than moral support, be there to mentor some of the other people. But you can’t really contribute in a tangible way. It felt like it went slow and fast at the same time, but I was glad to touch the mound today and do things that I like doing.”