How do you spell relief?

[RoyNHSox]

So is this a good trade for the Red Sox? I don't know enough about Javier Lopez to comment, but I do know that Tito seemed to avoid Riske like the plague.

[Beckett95]

i dont think its a good move and think Riske needed more oppurtunities to prove himself.

 

Lopez's era in his career is 6.09 and he hasnt pitched for Chicago this year.

 

he's 28 and went 2-1 with a 0.55 ERA and 13 saves in 26 appearances with AAA Charlotte.

[jsinger121]

I think the sox needed someone to get lefties out and with foulke ailing a move had to be made.

[Beckett95]

some info from Boston.com on Lopez

 

The Red Sox made a move to shake up their beleaguered bullpen today, trading righthander David Riske to the Chicago White Sox for minor league pitcher Javier Lopez.

 

The 28-year-old Lopez, a lefthanded closer for Triple-A Charlotte, had a 0.55 ERA with 12 saves this season before the deal. The Red Sox announced he would be in uniform (and wear No. 48) for tonight’s game in Minnesota.

 

Riske, who was dealt to the Red Sox from the Guardians in January as part of the Coco Crisp trade, was 0-1 with a 3.72 ERA in just eight appearances for Boston this season. He missed almost a month early on with a lower back strain.

 

Before the trade, the Red Sox did not have a lefty in the bullpen. Lopez has held lefthanded hitters to a .171 average in International League play this season, and hasn’t given up a run in his last 9 1/3 innings. He has also had success at inducing hitters to hit the ball on the ground: his ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratio is the second best in the International League and fourth best in all of professional baseball (including the majors) among pitchers with at least 30 innings pitched, according to the Red Sox.

 

Over the course of his major league career with Colorado (2003-05) and Arizona (2005), Lopez is 6-4 with a 6.09 ERA. Lefthanded major league batters are hitting .246 against him.

 

More info on Lopez directly from the Red Sox:

 

 

The lefthander was 4-1 with a 3.70 ERA in a career best and club rookie record 75 appearances with the Rockies in his rookie season in 2003. He issued just two earned runs in his first 30 appearances that season. Lopez appeared in 64 games with Colorado in 2004 and last season was 1-1 in 32 contests with the Rockies and Diamondbacks while also pitching in 27 games at Triple-A Tucson.

 

 

A fourth round selection of Arizona in the 1998 first-year player draft, Lopez was picked by Boston in the Rule 5 major league draft in December 2002. The Red Sox traded Lopez to Colorado in March 2003.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

He spent three seasons in Colorado? That kills everyones ERA....hell if the guy can hold lefthanders down around a 2.00 average than I'm happy. I liked David Riske though and wish we could have gotten rid of one of the others (Seanez or Tavarez)

[Beckett95]

I think Breslow would have been able to do the job just as good as Lopez.

[SchillingIsTheNatural]

I think Breslow would have been able to do the job just as good as Lopez.

 

Maybe but I don't think he is on the 40-man roster.

[Mr Crunchy]

riske never had a pop here and i wonder why that is??

its not as if rudy and julian tavares were doing the job

 

his career #s were solid,very solid

this makes sense if the guy they got can come in and do the job today but if he cant??

[CrespoBlows]

Lefties have hit .147 off Lopez so far during the AAA season.

 

Breslow's at .200 but he doesn't have a whole lot of control.

 

Anyone who saw Morneau and Kubel tee off on the Red Sox should understand this move.

[a700hitter]

I think the sox needed someone to get lefties out and with foulke ailing a move had to be made.

They should have though about re-signing Myers.

[seabeachfred]

Doesn't sound like someone who is going to be a big help no matter what the hell his name is.

[a700hitter]

Doesn't sound like someone who is going to be a big help no matter what the hell his name is.

This is a typical Dan Duquette move-- looking for lightning in a bottle.

 

This FO has made some tremendous blunders since the '04 Championship. At the top of that list is letting an HOF pitcher walk while he can still pitch like an HOFer. It was a penny-wise and pound foolish move. The money that they saved on Pedro has been redeployed on the likes of Clement, Wells, Seanez and Tavarez. How has that worked out? When the last chapter on the Damon trade is written 4 years from today, I think that will prove to be a blunder also.

[Cityofchampions33]

Tonight..Relief is spelled L-O-P-E-Z

[Beckett95]

Tonight..Relief is spelled L-O-P-E-Z

 

If the games close, id expect them to bring in Lopez to face Mauer, Morneau and possibly Kubel.

[seabeachfred]

700, it looks like we might have gotten a rhinestone in Coco Crisp. He really looks crappy up there at the plate and maybe he has not played his way into shape from that injury back in April. He looks lost at the plate. Maybe we will be missing Damon more than we care to admit when all is said and done.

[Beckett95]

700, it looks like we might have gotten a rhinestone in Coco Crisp. He really looks crappy up there at the plate and maybe he has not played his way into shape from that injury back in April. He looks lost at the plate. Maybe we will be missing Damon more than we care to admit when all is said and done.

 

i never supported that trade and said right after Johnny left that Youk and Loretta would be fine hitting 1-2.

[thee sox]

from a whitesox fan's point of view, what do you think of this deal?

 

who the hell is this lopez guy?

 

Sorry about the slow reply.

 

I like it. We're giving up a minor leaguer that really had no shot to make our club, for a proven righty (probably our biggest need right now).

 

I don't really know much about Lopez. He had a great spring, and would have made the team, but Boone Logan (who has since been sent down), had a better one. We've wanted him to come up for about a month now (he's pitched really well in Charlotte). What I hear, is he's always been able to own AAA, but has never gotten to the level that he can beat major league hitters on a regular basis. I wish him the best in Boston, though (except against the Sox).

[CrespoBlows]

It's a good trade for both teams. The White Sox get another piece to add to their already impressive bullpen, and the Red Sox get someone who can get lefties out.

[thee sox]

It's a good trade for both teams. The White Sox get another piece to add to their already impressive bullpen, and the Red Sox get someone who can get lefties out.

 

Actually, the White Sox bullpen has been everything short of impressive. Jenks has been the only one with any consistency.

[CrespoBlows]

Actually, the White Sox bullpen has been everything short of impressive. Jenks has been the only one with any consistency.

 

Cotts, McCarthy, and Thorton aren't bad. I agree, they aren't all that impressive, but they aren't bad.

[thee sox]

Cotts, McCarthy, and Thorton aren't bad. I agree, they aren't all that impressive, but they aren't bad.

 

I'm not doubting that they can be impressive, but they haven't been. Cotts has been inconsistent. McCarthy has had some troubles moving from a starter to the pen. And Thornton is improving every time he goes out there, but still has bad outings here and there. But we've also had our problems with Cliff Politte, it doesn't look like Dustin Hermanson will ever pitch again, and Jeff Nelson went down with a season ending injury. So lately we've had two rookies in the pen, Sean Tracey and Agustin Montero, each of which you don't know what you're going to get out of them. Riske adds another righty to the pen, and I'm happy to see that. I'd rather see Riske out there than Tracey or Montero.

 

Good luck with Lopez, I hope he succeeds.

[mosox]

Lopez hardly impressed by walking the first lefty he faced. However he did get the suddenly dangerous Kubel to ground out. I'm not a big fan of the submarine pitchers. It seems Theo likes them, although if they're so effective, why are so few guys throwing sidearm?

[seabeachfred]

mosox, what choice do we have but to give Lopez a chance to show his stuff. We cannot write him off after one or two batters. My worry is that Theo has not been very good in building a solid bullpen the past season and a half. We can only hope he gets back on a hot streak in the player personnel department.

[jsinger121]

Its not easy to construct a bullpen....what we saw with the yanks in the mid 90's is very difficult to have year in and year out.

[seabeachfred]

Jsing, correctamundo! It is not easy to build a strong bullpen but we have to do better than we have. Closer? We seem to be very strong there unless we suddenly decide to put Papelbon in the rotation, which now I think is a bad move. Set-up man? Mike Timlin holds the fort there as well and Eric Hansen is on his way up. The problem is in some middle relief. Seanez, Taverez and Lopez????? Well the first two have been chronic disappointments and I am not holding out a lot of hope for Lopez. I hope I am wrong. Delcarmen has the stuff but he must show himself to be more consistent; otherwise Francona will go with his "experience nonsense" with detrimental results.

[jsinger121]

Its Craig Hansen by the way

[seabeachfred]

Jsing, Craig it is. I just had a senior moment. I believe I know a couple of Eric Hansens and just didn't concentrate on the business at hand. Thanks.

[jsinger121]

yes we had an eric hansen at one time....back in 1995

[Sox Fan on Cape]

Rodney from Detroit would be a good pick-up.

[jsinger121]

Rodney from Detroit would be a good pick-up.

 

He would but he's not available