Lopez's road to D.C. paved by stunning advance through minors

With Reynaldo Lopez struggling a bit with five walks and lasting only four innings in his second major league start Saturday at San Francisco, it is easy maybe to forget what a giant step forward the Dominican hurler has made in his development this season.

Lopez allowed three runs on four hits with four strikeouts in the no-decision for the Nationals at AT&T Park. The Giants went on to win 5-3. Lopez tossed 92 pitches, 51 for strikes.

The right-hander went 5-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 17 minor league starts this season. Double-A Harrisburg Senators play-by-play announcer Terry Byrom was impressed by Lopez's work in the first few months of this season and appreciated how quickly the 22-year-old got to the point of being major league ready.

"I had a serious bromance for him this year," Byrom told me on "Nats Insider" on 106.7 The Fan Sunday. "I think he is just outstanding. He is a really nice young man. He has come so far for the Nationals in a really short time. He seemed to really figure out a whole lot this year. Those last seven or eight starts that he had for us, he looked as good as I think I have ever seen anyone look. It was pretty incredible actually."

Several players Byrom watched play every day, including top prospect Lucas Giolito and shortstop Trea Turner, have made it to the majors this season. In all of Byrom's experience calling games for so many seasons, he can appreciate more than others how difficult it is to make that step, even with such high accolades on your resume.

"It's funny about the way this all works out," Byrom said. "I haven't looked lately about how many guys now that are on the roster who came through Harrisburg that I've seen. I've been here as long as the Nationals have been in Washington as the Nationals. It's fun, especially when they first go up and first get their feet wet and first get going like Sandy Leon did a few years ago, and Pedro Severino and Reynaldo Lopez. The same thing when Koda Glover went up and Lucas Giolito, it's fun to see if they take it from here and go there with it. Usually, they don't.

"That has nothing to do with the player. Playing in front of 5,000 in Double-A, you're playing in front of maybe 7,000 in Triple-A and then all of a sudden you're out in San Francisco or you're in Washington and the stakes are higher and the games are more important. As fans, or working in the media, you don't really understand what it's like to get on the mound there as compared to getting on the mound in Rochester, N.Y. It's a big difference."

The Nationals traded reliever Felipe Rivero and left-handed prospect Taylor Hearn to the Pirates for closer Mark Melancon on Saturday. Byrom saw Rivero pitch many times and appreciates that the Nationals did not have to give up a top-10 prospect, as many had predicted, in order to secure a talent of the level of Melancon.

"I make that trade probably 99.9 times out of 100 when you are giving up low-level even high-ceiling prospect," Byrom said. "There's so much that can happen to a young man between Hagerstown and Washington."