Baseball America No. 4 Nats prospect: Reynaldo Lopez

When baseball pundits talk about the future of the Nationals rotation, Lucas Giolito, A.J. Cole and even right-hander Reynaldo Lopez get mentioned. At the beginning of last year, many would not have known who Lopez was. But the pitcher who just turned 21 on Jan. 4 made a big splash on the scene by pitching well for low Single-A Hagerstown. In nine starts for the Suns, the 6-foot, 185-lb. Lopez went 4-1 with a 1.33 ERA in 47 1/3 innings, striking out 39 and walking only 11 batters. If you add in his short-season numbers, Lopez surrendered only 10 earned runs in 83 1/3 innings pitched. Scouts took notice. Baseball America slotted him among the top five prospects in the Nationals' chain. No. 4: right-hander Reynaldo Lopez Baseball America editor-in-chief John Manuel said his scouts loved what they saw from Lopez in a late-season start. "He's one of the biggest breakout stories of the year, frankly, in all of the minor leagues and not just the Nationals organization," Manuel said. Manuel said when discussing Lopez with scouts and other Baseball America talent evaluators, they favorably compared the Dominican right-hander with Nats top prospect Giolito. "I went to go see him early September over in Greensboro and (our group) talked to scouts who were like, they saw Giolito recently and saw this guy and there wasn't a big difference," Manuel said. "Physically there's a big difference, but in terms of quality of stuff, there wasn't a big difference. You could find scouts who (liked) what Lopez did better. He doesn't have Giolito's body, he doesn't have Giolito's track record. But in terms of pure gas and a fastball that is hard to hit, he had it." The big key always for starters at this juncture in their careers is their ability to maintain fastball velocity throughout the game, a very difficult task to accomplish at any level. "When (Baseball America's) J.J. Cooper saw him, (in the) fifth and sixth inning (he was) still sitting 94-96 mph," Manuel said. "So he is a little guy, but really holding his velocity. (Suns) pitching coach Sam Narron told him a lot of kids with that kind of stuff flattens out later when he gets tired. His stuff wasn't doing that. And that was the end of the year, September. "His stuff wasn't flattening out. He doesn't quite have the curveball that Giolito has. He has shown he can throw it. He is throwing the changeup. Really exciting." Manuel said it's not a reach to compare Lopez to one of the postseason heroes for Kansas City last season. "I guess if you are looking for comparison, the Latin pitcher with the electric arm that everyone is going to point to is Yordano Ventura," Manuel said. "Look what he was able to do with the Royals in the postseason and the regular season. That's a best-case scenario kind of guy for Lopez. You hope he can develop along those lines." Ventura went 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA in 31 games (30 starts) for the Royals, striking out 159 batters. Manuel said it will be very intriguing how Lopez follows up a tremendous finish to his 2014 campaign. "One of the big breakout players in the entire minor leagues, no doubt top-100 guy," Manuel concluded. "He has a chance to kind of cement himself as one of the elite pitching prospects in the game next year. There's not a lot of organizations that have that one-two punch the Nationals have with Giolito and Lopez. It's exciting."