Yoan López
Yoan López Leyva is a Cuban professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball.Career
López played three seasons for the Isla de la Juventud in the Cuban National Series. He defected from Cuba in 2014 to pursue a career in Major League Baseball. In his final season in Cuba, he had a 3.12 earned run average with 28 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched. He received interest from numerous teams, including the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres before signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2015, he played for both the Arizona League Diamondbacks of the Rookie-level Arizona League and the Mobile BayBears of the Class AA Southern League, pitching to a combined 2-6 record and 4.17 ERA in 54 innings between both teams.
In 2016, López pitched for Mobile. He struggled, posting a 5.52 ERA in 62 innings, and left the team with the intention to retire. However, he returned to the organization in September 2016 to pitch for the Diamondbacks' Arizona League affiliate. He spent 2017 with the Visalia Rawhide of the Class A-Advanced California League and posted a 2-0 record with a 0.88 ERA along with 56 strikeouts in innings. In 2018, he pitched for the Jackson Generals of the Southern League. The Diamondbacks promoted him to the major leagues on September 3. López faced the Atlanta Braves six days later in his major league debut, giving up 2 home runs and a triple in his first 8 pitches. In 2019, he pitched out of the bullpen for Arizona, appearing in 70 games.
