page_title: Javier López (baseball)
section_title: Pitching style
hierarchical_section_title: Javier López (baseball) / Pitching style
caption_attribution_description: Javier López
context_page_description: Javier Alfonso López Palmer is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball for the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, and San Francisco Giants. He was a left-handed specialist known for his sidearm delivery.
  López attended the University of Virginia, earning a degree in psychology despite leaving early to begin his baseball career. In 1997, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. He began his career as a starting pitcher but struggled, and was converted into a sidearm reliever while still in the Diamondbacks' organization. Before the 2003 season, he was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft, but was traded to the Colorado Rockies during spring training. He spent all of 2003 on Colorado's roster, nearly tying the franchise record for most consecutive batters retired and finishing third among major league rookies in games pitched.
context_section_description: López's main pitch is a two-seam fastball in the mid 80s, and his secondary pitch is a slider in the high 70s. Against left-handed hitters he will sometimes mix in a curveball. López's distinctive sidearm delivery makes him appealing as a left-handed specialist; through the 2013 season, lefties have hit only .209 against him, while righties have hit .297.
  After López struggled to begin his professional career, throwing over the top, he decided he needed to change his style. In the Diamondbacks' system in 2002, with the help of Mike Myers, he began throwing sidearm (or submarine), which Andy Baggarly called "a decision that changed his life."
caption: López's sidearm delivery
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