Rodrigo Lopez, who makes his Cubs debut against Houston on Monday, hasn’t pitched in more than a week since making his last start for the Braves’ Triple-A Gwinnett club on May 21.
So he’s eager to get on the hill.
“I’m ready for the start,” Lopez said. “Besides that, I haven’t pitched in like 10 days, so I really need to go out to pitch.”
Lopez, 35, threw a bullpen session Saturday. He said the key to his game is his changeup.
“I’m more [of] a spot-guy, trying to keep the ball down and keep the batters off-balance,” said Lopez, 6-1 with a 2.59 in Triple-A. “The changeup is what helps me to get batters out early in the count. I threw a bullpen yesterday, and it’s working fine.”
Lopez said he throws his changeup to right and left-handed batters and uses it to get a lot of ground balls, especially from righties.
Although he debuted in the Majors in 2000, Lopez felt like a rookie when he heard he had been traded to the Cubs.
“I kind of got nervous like my first time being called up to the Majors,” he said.
Lopez has pitched twice at Wrigley Field, both starts, and is 0-2 with a 8.44 ERA. But the veteran said he likes the atmosphere at Wrigley.
“I like this kind of environment — this old ballpark, people pretty close to you,” he said.
He does have one misconception about Wrigley. Lopez said he likes the thick grass that slows down ground balls. But the Cubs laid a new playing surface in the offseason, and the grass is not as thick as it once was.