As Reynaldo López thinks back on the process of trying to be noticed and signed out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager all those years ago, something immediately comes to mind.
“I remember that I almost quit playing baseball,” López said.
This might shock you. How could Reynaldo López – the pitcher now starring as a starter for the Braves – ever have been in a position to ponder giving up baseball? But he is serious. He almost quit and finished school.
To this day, López can recall a conversation he had with his then-coach, Carlos Pérez, in the Dominican Republic in 2012, when he was 18 years old. At the time, a frustrated López was tired – physically and mentally.
He had thrown for Cleveland, the Cubs, the Reds, the Tigers and the Pirates. In these tryouts, his velocity was sitting at 93 mph to 94 mph. He was striking out batters.
“I think I threw (five) times, and then, like, nothing,” López told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Nothing. Like, (in terms of) offers – nobody. And then I was like, ‘I’m just wasting my time.’”
