Here today, gone tomorrow: Wilton Lopez

It was announced after the Beavers 8-4 home win over the Las Vegas 51s on June 1st, 2008 that the team's parent organization, the San Diego Padres, were transferring right-handed pitcher, Wilton Lopez, from San Antonio (where he appears to have been inactive to start the season) to Portland. No timeline was given for this move, but things must've been in motion prior to the announcement, as Wilton would be in town to make his debut the very next night.

I have not been able to find a recap of the Beavers v. 51s game from June 2nd, but looking at the box score, one can deduce that Wilton came to relieve in either the 4th, 6th, or 7th inning. He wound up pitching exactly one inning, in which he struck out one, issued two walks, threw a wild pitch, gave up a hit and one earned run. The Beavers lost the game 4-3.

One day later, on June 3rd, it was announced that he was being transferred back down to AA San Antonio. Obviously the Padres weren't impressed with his outing, and weren't interested in giving him another chance to improve on it.

24 year-old Wilton Lopez had already played for six teams, in five different leagues, during his four-year tenure in minor league ball prior to joining the Beavers. His one inning in Portland was his first taste of AAA ball, and it would appear that he may've been a bit nervous (which is understandable). It would be two years, five more minor league teams, and a brief stint in the bigs with Houston, later, before he appeared in AAA ball again; this time with Round Rock, of the PCL, where things would briefly start to turn around for him.

After a 2-1 record in 2010 with Round Rock, Wilton was called back up to the Astros, who had signed him the year prior, where he'd arguably have his best season going 5-2 with a 3.09 ERA. His fortunes reversed the following season and he was back down to Oklahoma City after finishing 2-6 with the Astros. He was brought back up to be the Astros new closer in 2012 after they traded away Brett Myers, who had previously occupied that position. He'd post a 6-3 record in his new role, before being trade to Colorado the following off-season.

Tow unsuccessful seasons with the Rockies, and their affiliates, led to him being released and signed by the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2015. That partnership ended after one game with the GCL Blue Jays, which saw him give up four runs on six hits in just 1 1/3 innings. Wilton's final big league record is 16-17, with a 3.54 ERA.

His last appearance in baseball, or at least the last one that I can find, was as a member of the Nicaraguan team that won a bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games.

[A special thanks goes out to, Tom, from The Angels, In Order, who was kind enough to send the card that was used in this post.]