Felipe López (born May 12, 1980 in Bayamón, Puerto
Rico) is a Puerto Rican shortstop for Major League
Baseball's Washington Nationals franchise.
In 1998, López graduated from Lake Brantley High
School in Altamonte Springs, Florida where he set
school records by hitting .521 with 15 doubles, five
triples, seven home runs, 28 runs batted in and 34
stolen bases in his senior year. He was also voted
Florida's Player of the Year, was a USA Today
All-USA selection, and was rated by Baseball America
as the best defensive high school shortstop in the
country.
Lopez was a 1st round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays
(8th pick overall) in the 1998 Amateur draft. López
made his major league debut on August 3, 2001 and
played second base and shortstop in a part time.
On December 1, 2002, the Blue Jays traded the
switch-hitting Lopez to the Reds as part of a four
team trade with the Oakland A's and the Arizona
Diamondbacks. The Toronto Blue Jays sent him to the
Cincinnati Reds, who sent pitcher Elmer Dessens to
the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks sent
first baseman Erubiel Durazo to the Oakland
Athletics, who, in turn, sent minor league pitcher
Jason Arnold to the Blue Jays. The trade was a
disaster for the Jays[1] as Arnold never became a
major leaguer and the Jays have been stuck with a
hole at shortstop since the trade utilizing Russ
Adams, John McDonald, Chris Woodward, Royce Clayton.
After backing up Barry Larkin during the 2003 and
2004 seasons, López earned the starting job in 2005.
López's first season as the Reds' regular shortstop
was his breakthrough. He clubbed 23 home runs and
stole 15 bases while compiling a .291 batting
average with a .352 on-base percentages. This earned
him the honor of being selected to the 2005 National
League All-Star team.
López was traded by the Reds on July 13, 2006 to the
Washington Nationals along with Austin Kearns and
Ryan Wagner for Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, Royce
Clayton, Brendan Harris, and Daryl Thompson, a minor
league prospect. In 2006, he tied for the major
league lead in errors at shortstop, with 28, and had
the lowest fielding percentage (.954).
When first traded to the Nationals, López's original
jersey number was 7, however when Damian Jackson was
traded, he turned in his number 7 for Jackson's
previous jersey number 2. This is the number he
currently wears.
In 2007, he had the lowest fielding percentage of
all NL shortstops, .957, and often found himself
switching between the position of shortstop and
second base. This switch was due to the recovery of
the Nationals original shortstop, Christian Guzman,
who had injured himself in 2005, though he later
gave the position back to Lopez after sustaining yet
another injury during the 2007 season.
