By Mike Morsch, Regional Editor
Professional baseball players don’t often get a day off from the ballpark, but when Jose Lopez found himself with such an opportunity on Memorial Day this year, he decided to take advantage of it.
And it turned out to be a nearly perfect day off for a ballplayer because of “the call.”
Lopez, a 2011 graduate of Hightstown High School who was drafted as a pitcher in the sixth round of the 2014 amateur baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds after three years at Seton Hall University, had his girlfriend Deanna in town for a visit.
The pitcher, who was at the time with the Daytona Tortugas, a high Class A Reds minor league team, in Daytona Beach, Florida, and his girlfriend decided they would spend the day off at Universal Studios in nearby Orlando, Florida.
“We had gotten there really early in the morning and were going about our day and having a good time,” said Lopez. “We stopped to get lunch at one of the places in the food court and as soon as we got done ordering food, I got a phone call from my manager, Eli Marrero, and he told me I was going to Pensacola.”
As in the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, the Class AA affiliate of the Reds.
In baseballspeak, getting “the call” means that Lopez had been promoted to the next level of professional baseball.
“It was perfect timing for all that to happen,” said Lopez. “You hope that call comes. But you can’t get too trapped up in that. At the end of the day, the decision isn’t yours. It’s something that you try to let the team worry about and you focus on what you have to do on the field. If you take care of business on the field, they [the organization] will make their moves.”
It’s a level-headed approach that has served Lopez well to this point in his career. After starring at Highstown High School as a starting pitcher, he was both a starter and reliever at Seton Hall.
“In college, I felt more comfortable as a reliever. I just kind of struggled with the routine as a starter. I never found that in college,” said Lopez. “My junior year in college, I figured out what that routine was and I’ve been starting, thankfully, so far in my pro career.”
Through July 4, in six appearances for Pensacola, Lopez is 2-1 with an earned run average of 5.00.
Like all young players in professional baseball, the goal is to reach the Major Leagues. And Lopez is confident that’s where he’s headed.
“Definitely, within the next couple of years. And that’s the answer you’ll get from every player in our clubhouse,” said Lopez. “If you take care of your business, you’re going to get there somehow, some way. I’m definitely going to keep working hard like I’ve done my whole life.”
But just in case professional baseball doesn’t work out like he’s planned, Lopez is also thinking ahead to life after baseball.
He was able to go back to Seton Hall for one semester last year in the offseason, and now he’s one semester away from earning a degree in education.
“I want to be a teacher. It’s very important to have a backup plan. As athletes, we get a little caught up in playing and start to think that without playing baseball, there is nothing else to like. But there are a lot of other things,” said Lopez, who had an elbow injury at the end of his college career that has healed and hasn’t adversely affected his professional career.
“But when I had that elbow injury, that’s when it hit me that things can be taken away in the snap of a finger,” he said. “And having that backup plan is important. That kind of taught me and helped me understand that one bad thing might be just one day away.”
In addition to planning ahead, Lopez hasn’t forgotten where he came from. Each offseason, he tries to go back to Hightstown High School and talk to students about the journey after their days at HHS are complete.
“I love doing it. I wish I had someone to do something like that when I was in school,” said Lopez. “The big thing I’ve emphasized is . . . why not us? Why not the person from the small school in a small town who doesn’t get much recognition? If you take care of what you need to take care of, whether that’s academically or athletically, you’re going to get noticed. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be the ones doing great things.
“I was very thankful for my time at Hightstown High School and I love going back, just to give back something to my roots.”
