SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants have re-signed left-handed relief pitcher Javier Lopez to a three-year contract, the club announced in a press release on Tuesday. The deal is reportedly worth $13 million over three years.
Lopez, 36, went 4-2 with one save and a career-best 1.83 ERA (8er, 39.1ip) in a team-high 69 relief appearances in his third full campaign with San Francisco last season. He struck out 8.5 batters per 9.0 innings and allowed just 2.7 walks per 9.0 frames, primarily working as a lefty specialist. He held left-handed batters to a .156 batting average, which ranked as the seventh-lowest figure among NL pitchers (minimum of 80 batters faced). Lopez also inherited the fourth-most runners in the NL (57) and allowed just 10.5% to score (6-of-57), which ranked as the lowest percentage in the league.
Lopez has spent the last three and a half seasons with the Giants after being acquired from the Pirates at the trade deadline in 2010 in exchange for OF John Bowker and RHP Joe Martinez. In his three-plus seasons in a Giants uniform he’s gone 14-4 with a 2.26 ERA (37er, 147.1ip) in 236 relief appearances.
Overall, the 11-year veteran has posted a career record of 27-13 with a 3.64 ERA along with 13 saves in 629 relief outings with Colorado (2003-05), Arizona (2005), Boston (2006-09), Pittsburgh (2010) and San Francisco (2010-13).
Courtesy San Francisco Giants media services
