Twins reinstate pitcher Jorge López after stint on IL for mental health reasons
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins have reinstated pitcher Jorge López after he missed 17 games for mental health reasons.
"I'm excited. I'm really pumped," López said Tuesday. "These 15 days, they were something really good for me, to take advantage to be here today and be back to where I want to be. I'm just glad to be back with the team."
The Twins placed López on the injured list in late June after a string of frustrating performances caused him to act out, he said.
"Just little stuff where bad outings, I'd start kicking stuff, punching stuff, getting mad real quick and I couldn't control the emotion and stuff," López said at the time. "That took me a little bit out of the game and you became frustrated every day. Even you try to be new guy next day, but it kind of get the snowball going. Good thing they recognized that and they told me about it, and it's just time to reflect and move forward."
López, a 2022 All-Star who was acquired at the trade deadline last year from Baltimore, didn't allow an earned run in April, holding opponents to a .140 batting average over 12 innings and 13 appearances.
He surrendered two earned runs in his first outing in May. Over his next 16 appearances, he gave up 15 earned runs in 15 innings, and opponents hit .349 against him. That culminated in a two-inning appearance against Detroit on June 15, when López gave up three runs.
López said he was seeing a psychologist, and he still spent time around the team while on the IL.
"He did everything that we could possibly hope that he could do," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He did it well. He did get a lot out of it, too. He's been throwing the ball well, too. We did some live BPs. He looks good. ... There was nothing else we felt we absolutely needed to see. And Jorge also thinks he's in a good spot right now, too. I'm in agreement. So here he is and I'm glad he's back."
López became the fourth player in the majors this season to be added to the injured list for mental health following Colorado's Daniel Bard, Detroit's Austin Meadows and Oakland's Trevor May.
The Twins are scheduled to play the Kansas City Royals Tuesday afternoon. Kenta Maeda is the starting pitcher.
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, call 988. There you'll reach a trained crisis counselor that can help. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, also has resources online.
