Orioles 25th Round Pick: Xavier Lopez (C)

[Delbird]

Xavier Lopez, 6'1"-175lbs R/R C from Isabel Flores HS - anyone know more about him? The video from MLB looks intriguing. He's listed as a right handed bat but the video shows him batting left and right.

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl_3_1.jsp?w_id=702294&w=/2008/open/draft/broll/br_lopez_xavier_400.wmv&mid=200805302799729&vid=11071&pid=gen_video&cid=mlb&v=2

The fact that they have video of him makes me wonder if he was projected higher and slipped for some reason.

[Delbird]

Interesting, we just took another catcher from Puerto Rico that switch hits in the 29th round, Dennis Perez. The video of him looks like he was on the same team as Lopez: http://mlb.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl_3_1.jsp?w_id=702430&w=/2008/open/draft/broll/br_perez_dennis_400.wmv&mid=200805302799865&vid=11071&pid=gen_video&cid=mlb&v=2 - the videos of the two players look almost identical.

[JayGibbons31]

I like that we're not just taking college guys right now, we still are taking some guys with some projection like Lopez and Thomas.

[hburg to bmore]

Yeah both videos did look very similar. I tried to go on the University of Puerto Rico website to find the athletic page to look for more info but struggled navigating it. One thing about Xavier Lopez his arm didn't look good behind the plate but kid looks to have a pretty solid arm from the outfield.

[markdublya]

Two Xaviers?!?! What are the odds?

[Ruzious]

Two Xaviers?!?! What are the odds?

Yup, they'd already stocked up on Brandons and Tylers. This year, it's Xaviers. Next year - Biffs?

[bej6789]

Is it me, or were the throws from Xavier to second base completely and utterly awful?

[WebLink21]

I really like this pick for some reason. Does anyone have any signing info on him? Are there any signability issues with him? I would like to get one more decent C prospect in the system to back up Weiters one day. I feel like we NEVER have a quality backup catcher on the team.

[Tony-OH]

Just by the video, he looks like a dead pull hitter from both sides of the plate which means he'll have to adjust that once he's pro ball or pitchers will just pitch him away. He's a got a weird throwing motion where he brings the ball up very high and although I didn't stop watch him, he looked to be slightly below average in getting the ball to second base but very wild.

He's a 25th round guy so really he's here to fill out the organization so anything from him is gravvy.

[Frobby]

Two Xaviers?!?! What are the odds?

Well, this is the team that has 3 Brandons on one minor league roster. But Xavier's pretty rare I have to admit.

[JayGibbons31]

The second guy's video looked a lot better. Lopez looks to have a below average arm in both strength and accuracy (at least in this video). The second guy, Perez, looked a lot better throwing the ball and looks to be a lot more physically developed already.

Probably because he is a year and a half older.