What is the story with Lopez's defense?

[AJAY]

A few days ago, Felipe Lopez made NO effort to field a ground ball that possibly could have been fielded with a little more effort. That play resulted in a big inning for San Diego. The TV announcers wondered if Lopez was hurt, and the people in the stands were booing him. There was never any confirmation of any injury. Lopez would not speak to reporters after the game. Ken Macha also played dumb and appeared to have no insight or interest in why Lopez did not field the ball. Macha almost sounded like he wasn't bothered, and I personally found this disturbing.

 

I can understand to some extent if the team and the player want to hide an injury, but the whole situation seemed very mysterious and odd to me. If it were Lou Pinella or Jim Leyland, Felipe Lopez would have been chewed out and put in the doghouse for a while. I guess we will never know what they talked about behind closed doors, but it doesn't look good when players seem lackadaisacal and the fans get no answers or sense of accountability.

 

Today, Felipe Lopez dropped an easy pop up because he was too lazy to get himself under the ball in a set fielding position. He tried to casually catch the ball on his side, and he failed miserably. Another run scored because of that.

 

Daron Sutton was recently interviewed on Milwaukee radio about Lopez, and he stated that Lopez often has concentration lapses in the field.

 

Does anyone have any insight as to what is the story with this guy. I love his hitting ability, but the defensive issues are really beginning to scare me. I know this guy has been moved around a lot from team to team over the past few years. Is this because of defense or something else? Do you think he is just hurt and can't move well?

 

Any thoughts?

[Fatter than Joey]

Does anyone have any insight as to what is the story with this guy. I love his hitting ability, but the defensive issues are really beginning to scare me. I know this guy has been moved around a lot from team to team over the past few years. Is this because of defense or something else? Do you think he is just hurt and can't move well?

 

Good post AJAY.

 

In the last 2 seasons Lopez has been...

 

1.) Released by the Nats.

2.) Not Arby'd by the Cards

3.) Dumped by the Dbacks.

 

This is no coincidence. Lopez is a very lackadaisical player, and I think teams are getting tired and aware of his act. Also, this is exactly the reason why I don't think it is a slam dunk to offer Lopez Arbys -- I do not think teams are going to be tripping over themselves to give Lopez a 2-3 year deal. Lopez would be a terrible utility IF, especially if he took the field at SS. The only way it makes sense to me for the Brewers to retain Lopez, would be if they thought Weeks was going to miss 40+ games next year.

 

Daron Sutton was recently interviewed on Milwaukee radio about Lopez, and he stated that Lopez often has concentration lapses in the field.

 

I think Sutton was being nice about Lopez. I would guess the fanbase for AZ was pretty united in seeing him dumped.

[RightFieldCoder]

I remember when we traded for him several people talked about this. I didn't know Lopez, but everyone else was commenting that his defense was poor. They also said he looked lackadaisical in the field. We knew this when we got him, that's why Ari didn't keep him and take the picks.

[dadofandrew]

I have little doubt Felipe has lapses. I also have no doubt he's playing at well less than 100%. They will not discuss the injury because it does no good, except give the other team the advantage, by knowing he is unlikely to run, unable to cover 1B w/o "cheating", and so on.

[joepepsi]

There is no reason to offer Lopez arby or try and sign him. McGehee is adequate at 2nd, Counsell will assuredly be offered another one year deal, and the Hurricane is capable should Weeks not be able to play in 2010. Even if none of these players work out, which is unlikely, finding a .720-.740 OPS keystoner isn't that hard.

[DHonks]

When we acquired him, some on this board said he was ridiculed for his defense. However, I'd been impressed until recently as he's shown great hands, an accurate arm, and good range. He's made some plays easily that Weeks couldn't have made until 2009 (if then)

[Fatter than Joey]

However, I'd been impressed until recently as he's shown great hands, an accurate arm, and good range.

 

It's more a mental/effort thing.

[jvrocksaz]

I am one of those on this board that was critical of Lopez when the Brewers traded for him. The Dbacks couldn't rid themselves of him fast enough even though they had no good options for 2B this year or next... Here is a blurb from a local afternoon radio host who works for the Dbacks flagship station 620 KTAR Phoenix:

 

http://www.ktar.com/?sid=1190921&nid=626

 

The Lopez mention is at the bottom of his blog...

[Raw Biz]

I don't like watching Lopez play defense. However, it seems to be more a matter of effort than ability. He has the ability to play average to slighty above average defense but he just doesn't put the effort in. But I will say that I love watching him at the plate. This year could be a fluke but he's been getting hits and getting on base.

[jvrocksaz]

Another thing that the Dback fans were frustrated with was his baserunning. These also appeared to be "mental" lapses... Things like getting picked off, not advancing the extra base when the obvious opportunity presented itself yet getting thrown out trying to advance when it was an obvious bad choice, and giving up to easy on plays at the plate or going in hard to break up a double play at 2nd...

[dadofandrew]

Games like tonight, he can goof up once in a while. The guy is a talent, that's for sure.

 

As for the D'Backs, sounds like he was just the scapegoat...notice how they've tore it up since he left.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Bad teams always like to blame their crappy play on everything but a lack of talent.

[jvrocksaz]

Well it looks like there was a reason for his "inspired" play tonight...

 

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/53256312.html

 

There was a reason St. Louis tried Skip Schumaker at 2B instead of offering Lopez arby... The Dbacks only took him after they lost out on Hudson. Lopez played well tonight and has done reasonably well since joining the Brewers but buyer beware!

 

See reply #1 by Fatter than Joey. There is a reason why he seems to travel alot!

[owbc]

I consider Lopez to be another Johnny Estrada and I wouldn't shed a tear if they released him tomorrow. I'm glad for Lopez that he has above average baseball ability. It is nice that he can hit .300 and play average defense without giving 100%. Based on what I have seen so far, he is our best option at 2B if we are interested in winning the most games. However, I can not stand it when professional baseball players do not give their full effort when there are plenty of other players (sitting on our bench) who care more about helping the team win. I've seen/heard enough to conclude that Lopez is lazy.

Obviously they aren't going to release him and an underperforming/harder working player like Hardy is going to get the demotion every time, fair or not. But when it comes time to make decisions about what kind of team we want to field next year, Lopez should be nowhere near the picture. Johnny Estrada could hit .300 and play mediocre defense also, it didn't do him any good.