Finally living up to the potential?"2018 RATING: 5.352017 RATING: N/A2018 PERFORMANCE: 0-0 Billy Williams Jersey , 10 G, 9 IP, 3.00 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 2.70 xFIP, 11:1 K:BB2018 SALARY: LEAGUE MINIMUM2019 STATUS: PRE-rnational signing under the “new” rules to quitting baseball in 2016 to giving up a homer, then a triple, then another homer in his Major League debut, it’s been an ugly roller coaster to start young Yoan Lopez’s career and that might be an understatement. Yet despite this horrific start, Lopez rebounded with 9 straight scoreless appearances to end the season, striking out 9 while only allowing 5 base runners (4 hits, 1 walk) in those 9 games. Was this the Yoan Lopez that the Diamondbacks paid $16 million for in 2015?Let’s start from the beginning. The Diamondbacks signed Yoan Lopez out of Cuba for just over $8 million in January 2015. However, due to the team allegedly not understanding the new international signing rules, the team had to pay another $8 million in overage penalties and were forbidden from spending more than $300k on a single player for the next two international free agent signing periods. This was a double blow to the Diamondbacks, as it made Lopez more costly than intended and really hurt their ability to sign international free agents for two years. Indirectly, this put a lot of burden onto Lopez to perform like a star to justify the signing. Keep this in mind. The scouting reports on Lopez were mixed, though there was a general consensus that he had a “big” fastball and had good upside, though he was deemed to be very risky due to erratic command at times. Nonetheless Jon Lester Jersey , the Diamondbacks were very high on Lopez, viewing him as a true ace that would join their rotation sooner than later. Many of the “internet scouts” assumed the Lopez would start at A-ball but the Diamondbacks sent him straight to AA. And that’s where the trouble really began. Lopez couldn’t get people out in AA, had low strikeout rates, and poor command. Now picture being a 22-year kid from Cuba now in the spotlight of America with the burden of justifying a widely-dismayed signing (see: the burden mentioned above) and struggling mightily in the minor leagues. Cameras had been following him everywhere. Well, it appears that all of this got to Yoan Lopez. He had attitude issues. For instance, he once posted a Snapchat video while wearing a Marlins hat and saying “No mas D-Backs; ahora Miami Marlins.“But that wasn’t the worst of it. Twice, he left the minor league team during road trips. The first time happened in 2015 and the team tracked him to Florida. It happened again in 2016 and when the Diamondbacks found him, he said he intended to quit. It seemed like this was the end of the road for Yoan Lopez’s baseball career and a massive disappointment at that. Fortunately, the team convinced Lopez to come back and assigned him a counselor. The team admitted that they pushed Lopez too hard and he appeared to do some growing up as well: The team shifted Lopez to a bullpen role and assigned him to High-A Visalia in 2017, where he really shined. In 30.2 innings, Lopez had a 0.88 ERA with a 16.43 K/9 against a 2.64 BB/9. He was absolutely dominant. In 2018 in AA, he had a 2.92 ERA in 61.2 IP with a 12.70 K/9 against 3.79 BB/9. Yoan Lopez, MLB prospect, was back.The Diamondbacks rewarded this turnaround with an MLB callup in September. Of course, in almost natural fashion, Yoan Lopez had quite possibly the worst pitching debut in team history, as noted by Jim. Diamondbacks fans once again groaned, quickly recalling the 3+ years of disappointment from Lopez. Yet http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-david-ross-jersey , he rebounded. He was absolutely stellar in his remaining nine appearances. His fastball was sitting at 97.52 MPH, on average, per Brooks Baseball in his brief stint last year. His slider was filthy. It appears that Yoan Lopez won’t ever reach that #1 starter potential that the team had envisioned, but his story is not yet over. In fact, it appears to be just beginning. Lopez has electric stuff and if he can keep this going, he can be a dynamic portion of the team’s bullpen for the next several years. GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Slowly and sensibly, Francisco Lindor is working his way back onto the field.Surrounded by approximately 50 fans, more than a dozen minor leaguers, a few scouts, and various game operations and medical staffers, the Indians’ three-time All-Star shortstop played in a controlled Triple-A game on Wednesday, a major step in his recovery from a right calf strain.“The pitcher was nasty, great pitcher,” Lindor said about Dodgers right-hander Brock Stewart, who struck him out twice. “I’m blessed to be out there, happy to be out there.”Lindor went 0 for 3 with the two strikeouts against Stewart on a practice field near Goodyear Ballpark, where his major league teammates played Milwaukee in a split-squad game.Stewart got Lindor to swing and miss on a 3-2 pitch in his last at-bat with a cutting fastball. In his first at-bat http://www.chicagocubsteamshop.com/authentic-david-ross-jersey , Lindor swung on a 3-0 count to get in his cuts, flying out in gusting winds to left.“That felt good,” Lindor said. “I thought my swings were good. I controlled my approach and will build off that.”Lindor worked the count full in his second at-bat, swinging and missing the last two pitches.“I took it as Day 1 spring training,” he said. “Nobody goes 100 percent in spring training, unless you are trying to make the team. So, that’s how I went up there today. Took some good pitches, some I missed — a lot of them.”Per the requirements of the medical staff, Lindor jogged to first base after making contact and while playing three innings in the field.When asked if he could let it go and sprint, he said, “No, still not there yet.”Lindor said his lack of full mobility was not a source of frustration.“I knew I wasn’t going to be 100 percent, but you just go out there and play the game,” he said. “I am happy. I am blessed. Today’s a special day, so check the box.”As for his next steps, Lindor will know more tomorrow.Lindor, who reported no soreness or pain, did not have a ball hit to him at shortstop Carlos Zambrano Jersey , but he did cover second on a steal attempt, putting the tag on a safe runner.He moved in or out or laterally with each pitch, hid his mouth with his glove to communicate coverages to second baseman Elvis Perez and showed spring in his step on a high pop that was caught by his teammate.The Indians remain hopeful that Lindor will be ready for the club’s March 28 opener at Minnesota.“With any sort of injury like that, there is no set date or set time table,” Indians general manager Mike Chernoff said. “We magnify the importance of opening day, and obviously, that’s on everyone’s mind, but that’s not what we’re concerned about. We’re concerned about making sure Frankie is completely healthy and in a really good spot to have a full season of performance, so we are taking it day to day.”Lindor understands there’s more to play for than facing the Twins in two weeks.“It is a special day, obviously being opening day,” he said. “But at the same time, I am more worried about the rest of the season and making it into the playoffs. That’s what we want; to make it into the postseason and win.”One of baseball’s best all-around players, Lindor got hurt while working out in Florida early last month. He has been limited at spring training to batting practice and stationary fielding.“He has been doing really well; he continues to progress in all of his activities,” Chernoff said. “He’s been out there a lot and we’ll continue to get him out there more. But we have to build him up volume-wise to where he can be at his position for the full nine innings. So, I don’t know how long that’s going to take, but I want to make sure he’s cleared all of those benchmarks before he’s in games.'”Lindor hit .277 last season and set career-highs with 38 homers and 92 RBIs. He tied for the AL lead with 129 runs.