Rodrigo Lopez’s Return to Phillies to Feature Decidedly Less Fanfare

Welcoming back old faces has just been part of Phillies baseball the past few years.

August 31, 2011; San Francisco, CA, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez (50) reacts after a pitch during the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at AT

I’d name the names, but we all remember them; Jim Thome in 2012, Placido Polanco in 2010, Cliff Lee in 2011, Jayson Werth in 2016.  Even when the Phillies sign Mike Trout to the second half of his brilliant career in a little less than a decade, it will technically be a return, as the kid hales from Millville, NJ and is a bigger Phillies fan than he ever could be of the Angels.

This year’s celebrated reunion was thought to be canceled, as Ruben Amaro made several moves and then claimed to have closed up shop for the winter.  But that old Ruben, he sure knows how to get out goat!

And boy did he ever get a goat.

"“RODRIGO LOPEZ!!! THE MISSING PIECE!!!”–John Stolnis, via email"

Yes, 37-year-old right hander Rodrigo Lopez is back, after making several appearances as a seldom seen reliever/spot starter for the 2009 Phillies.  You remember them, don’t you?  They had Rodrigo Lopez.

Well, Lopez went onto a long and illustrious career of injuries, bouncing from team to team, and leading the league in undesirable categories.

"“The veteran hurler has spent 11 injury-plagued years in the pros, twice leading the league in losses (18, 16) and earned runs (124, 111) in 2006 and 2010 (He also led in home runs allowed in 2010 with 37).”—Philly.com"

Ruben proved he still loved us by only signing Lopez to a minor league deal.  But you better believe he’ll be competing for that final rotation spot with John Lannan in the least exciting roster spot competition ever.