Monday was a big day for Daniel Lopez.
It was his 19th birthday, for one. It was also a day on which, as he was working out at the gym, he learned the Baltimore Orioles had picked him in the 12th round of the MLB Draft, No. 364 overall.
“I just started getting random texts,” Lopez recalled, “… just started hearing all these buzzings.”
Lopez, a right-handed pitcher who recently completed his freshman year at Odessa College, had already spoken with his coach there about how he planned to transfer to a Division I school after one season, but as the spring went on, the draft presented itself as an option, too.
Now, he has both possibilities at his disposal. Lopez announced late Wednesday night that he has committed to Kansas. That’s if he decides to stay in college.
He told the Journal-World on Thursday morning that it’s “50-50” right now, and a decision is looming. He said the Orioles “haven’t met my number and stuff like that” that he would need in order to go to the pros, and “they should know by this weekend.”
That uncertainty makes for a bit of a stressful birthday week for the righty.
“It would be a big relief once I finally get that decision going and talk to my family,” Lopez said. “It’ll be a big relief. I can finally start working towards something.”
One strong junior-college season was enough to put the native of El Paso, Texas, on the professional radar. A 6-foot-1 righty with a fastball that has touched 98 mph, he went 6-2 with a 4.89 ERA and 81 strikeouts as the Wranglers won the Western Junior College Athletic Conference title outright.
Lopez said his mindset is that “for you to have a successful day, you got to go to sleep tired.”
“It’s kind of putting everything you can into baseball, making your life about baseball,” he said. “I’ve always taken it serious, I’ve always loved the sport, the game, but as soon you get more into it, I feel like the culture was what really drove me at Odessa. It was kind of like a family, you know, everybody’s pushing you to be better.”
The same family feeling, and a strong relationship with KU’s “joyful” and “outgoing” itinerant recruiting coordinator Jon Coyne, drew Lopez to the Jayhawks and helped sell him on Lawrence as a potential destination when he came to town early in July.
“To me, family means everything,” he said, “If I’m going to leave my hometown I feel like I have to have a family surrounded by positivity. There in Lawrence, showing me around and everything, everybody seems positive.”
He added that “the pitching staff coaches, head coach and everybody around just (seem) like best friends.”
The KU coaches also gave him feedback on handling the strike zone, an area in which at Odessa, he said, “I kind of struggled a little, but as the year went on, middle of the year, I got better.”
Lopez began the season working in relief but segued into starting for the Wranglers in late March. On April 4, he threw eight no-hit innings with 13 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over Frank Phillips College. A week later, he struck out 14 in just 5 1/3 while allowing one run as Odessa beat El Paso 4-2.
If Lopez does indeed make it to KU, he’ll join a revamped pitching staff to which the Jayhawks have made extensive additions over the course of the offseason.
KU’s closer Alex Breckheimer was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, and Saturday starter Cooper Moore transferred to LSU. But the Jayhawks return key arms in former Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year Dominic Voegele, Kannon Carr and Manning West and have added a host of contenders to either start or come out of the bullpen.
Some of the recent offseason additions prior to Lopez’s commitment included Riane Ritter (St. Thomas), Toby Scheidt (Bryant), Carter Fink (East Tennessee State), Mason Cook (McLennan Community College) and Darius Henderson (Salt Lake Community College).
