An Ode to Javier Lopez

I have a secret confession to make; I was against the Giants resigning both Lopez and Affeldt. I had pegged them both into the left hand specialist spot and figured they did essentially the same thing. I'm not totally wrong with that thought, but having both of them available to come up clutch is one of the reasons why the bullpen is so special. Going into the season I was giddy at the prospect of using one of them as trade bait to get a middle infielder. I was correct in predicting how much the shortstop and second basemen would make me crazy, but right now I wouldn't trade them for anyone.

My biggest reason is that Javier is WAY better than his stats would indicate. He has one major flaw that destroys his stats (this of course is totally un-researched but isn't that the point of a blog?) What is that flaw you ask? It is his total incompetence to pitch well in garbage time. He is a reliever built on adrenaline. Garbage time eats him up and he responds with less than stellar performance. When the game is on the line? Nails. His pitch to induce a double play against the Dodgers is one of the best plays of the season.

I can even stand his inability to pitch when the game is already decided. You never like to give up hope, but Javier is built differently than most. I guess my only real problem with the guy is his inability to grow a ridiculous amount of facial hair. Other than that, he's more than you could ever ask of a reliever: Clutch in pressure situations, high strikeout/walk ratio, limits base-runners and provides a great quotes. In short, I love Javier, just not as much as I love Romo.