Jorge Lopez turning back to sinker paying dividends early in Mets tenur

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When Jeremy Hefner dug into the 2022 version of Jorge Lpez, .  A lot of them.  Lpez attributed his succe s that year  a 1.62 ERA when he trekked to Dodger Stadium for his lone All-Star appearance  to the grip, too.  Half of his 1,161 pitches were sinkers.  It buzzed acro s the plate at an average of 98 mph.  Jorge Lopez has been dominant for the Mets so far this year.  JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST  Explore More  So the question from Hefner, the Mets pitching coach, revolved around why he stopped throwing that pitch.  When , as he bounced between three different teams and his succe s resembled more of a fluke than a sustainable breakthrough, he only threw the sinker at a 34 percent clip.  Lpez still had a strong belief in it, so that formed the foundation of their pitching blueprint for 2024.  Hitters would dictate if that wasnt working, Hefner said.  Ryan O'hearn Jersey  Jorge Lopez has used his sinker more this season.  Corey Sipkin for the NY POST  Lpezs first 13 appearances for the Mets hinted that their vision has worked.  He used the sinker 41 percent of the time, and opponents hit .143 against it with a .143 slugging percentage.  Since allowing a run in the opener, Lpez surrendered just one and compiled a 0.77 ERA acro s his next 12 outings entering Tuesdayemerging as a staple for the bullpen and allowing Lpez to rebuild my career again, he told The Postbefore earning his second save of the season and allowing a run in the Mets 4-2 win against the Cubs on Tuesday.  You have a four-pitch mix to a guy youre only going to see once a series, Hefner told The Post, so, like, the advantage is all on him.  The effectivene s of Lpezs sinker has directly correlated to his succe s against right-handed batters, Hefner said.  Theyve hit .100 against him this season.  Lopez has proven to be a reliable late-inning arm for the Mets.  Noah K. Murray-NY Post  And the revival has occurred even with Lpezs sinker velocity dipping since 2022, down to 97 mph last year and 95 mph so far in 2024.  I dont know, Lpez said of the velocity change. I dont feel anything.  Lpez, a 25-game starter in 2021 before getting shifted to the bullpen, learned that it doesnt matter how hard he throws.  Still, over the course of the next 130-plus games, as Lpez tries to avoid another instance of a promising stretch fading away and becoming an anomaly, Hefner and the Mets want to rediscover that velocity.  Delivering insights on all things Amazins  Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+  Thank you  By clicking above you agree to the and .  Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter!  Theyve worked on some mechanical tweaks while also waiting to see if its a weather-based i sue.  Anytime you can add velo and not lose command, which he has good command of the sinker, thats a path we should at least explore, Hefner said.  Midway through spring training, Lpez was adamant that he still had the stuff from 2022.  The dynamic pitching before a trade and two instances of being designated for a signment unraveled his trajectory.  Lpez has tried to be the 2022 guy, he said Tuesday, and so far, that approach  with the sinker at the crux of it  has worked.  Davey Johnson Jersey
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