CORNELIO LOZANO
How Long Beach Stole one of the BBA's Best Relief Pitchers
July 12, 2045
Long Beach, CA
In the second game following the BBA All Star Break, Cornelio Lozano earned the save in an 8-1 victory against the Des Moines Kernels. Alberto Ramirez got into a bit of a jam in the 8th inning following a solid start from Ernesto Delgado. After a double and a walk put two men on and the tying run at the plate, Lozano was summoned from the 'pen for his 52nd appearance of the season.
He sandwiched a walk between two strikeouts to squash the rally, and provided momentum for the Surfers offense to score 3 run in the bottom of the frame to increase their lead to 7. Manager Edgar Gomez, wanting to give the rest of the bullpen a rest, asked Lozano to return to close it out. This time, he sandwiched a flyout between two more strikeouts to earn the save and secure the Surfers' 47th victory of the season.
Known for his off the charts stuff, Lozano was a below-average starter/swingman since breaking in to the league with the Surfers in 2040. Long Beach always seemed to be one starter short of a full rotation, and Lozano was the best 5th man available. To be sure, there's worse back-end starters in the league, but many observers were eagerly awaiting the day that Lozano would be used in the bullpen full-time. As good as his stuff has been, his control has held him back. From 2041-43, he made 75 starts with BB/9 rates of 9.2, 8.1, and 5.1 respectively. His stuff was excellent for a starter, striking out over 10/9 consistently, but the walk rate severly limited his effectiveness.
To get the full picture of Cornelio as he is today, let's step back to the 2033 Amateur Draft. He was selected in the 6th round by the Twin Cities River Monsters, and the OOTP scouts gave him potential ratings of 8/7/4 which would probably indicate a future in the BBA as a low-leverage reliever. Over the next four years, under the watch of TWC coaching, his potential stuff steadily improved.
Going in to spring training 2038, his stuff was up to 9/9, but scouts noted that he was struggling mightily with his control, to the point where they marked an abysmal "1" on the scouting cards. Despite this rating, his walk rate stayed in the mid 2s per 9, and he was striking out over 11 per 9. It was partway through the 2038 season that you might say his career took a turn. He missed about two months with shoulder inflammation, and though he signed a minor league contract extension with Twin Cities in November, he was not added to the 40 man roster.
One month later, he became a Long Beach Surfer, drafted 50th overall in the Rule 5 draft. Now, Long Beach was coming off of a not disastrous 81-81 season, and Lozano was still rated 8/6/1 by the OSA scouts. Even more surprisingly, he had never pitched about A Ball! If you had some Brewster bucks to burn on a prop bet about whether Lozano would have made it all the way through the 2040 season on the Surfers roster, you'd have surely bet that he wouldn't.
We reached out to Long Beach General Manager Stephen Lane for his thoughts. "I wish I could say I knew exactly the potential that Lozano had. Truth be told, I just saw him as a solid addition for the back of the 'pen. As most people know, I fully embrace the idea that control is nearly irrelevant when you're evaluating relief pitching. I suppose you could say that drafting Lozano was me really putting my money where my mouth is."
Well, the draft pick paid dividends immediately, as Lozano pitched 71.1 innings, posting a 4.54 ERA (105 ERA+) in 76 appearances. He walked 61 and struck out 93 in those games, and the Surfers finished at 89-73. He even made one appearance in the playoffs that season, striking out one over two-thirds of an inning.
He was placed on the Surfers' offseason pitching workout plan, and for Spring Training 2041, scouts noted an imporvement in stuff, as well as movement and control potential. With new potentials of 9/7/2, he was sent to AAA for some polish work. Twenty games and 52 innings later, his minor league career had come to an end. His BBA work in 2041 left much to be desired, as he made 20 relief appearances and 12 starts combining for a 7.73 ERA (67 ERA+). His walks per nine had skyrocketed to 9.2 and despite having four pitches, early indications were that starting was not for him.
"I think the 2041 season was a wake-up call for me" said Lozano, in an interview during All Star Game festivities this past week. "I hadn't really struggled like that since my freshman year in college. It was a reminder the that BBA is the best of the best, especially when you're a starter. There's very little room for error. So, the Surfers hired a nutritionist and a personal trainer to work with in the offseason. I really dedicated myself to being the best pitcher that I could be."
So he did, and he impressed the scouts along the way. The 2042 report saw his stuff bump up to 11, and the following year, up to 13. Jared Brito, scout for Long Beach had this to say: "I've never seen anything like it. My grandfather, Mike, would tell me stories about the guys that he scouted all over the country...all over the world really. Baseball was different in his day, and he discovered some amazing ballplayers. I don't think he watched anyone improve year to year the way that Cornelio has though."
Spring Training 2044 is where the legend of Lozano really begins. OSA evaluators pegged his talents at 15/6/3, and GM Lane had a new role for him. The arrival of starting pitching prospects, and a big spending spree on free agents (including the now departed Yrrigs Carpenter) had filled the rotation. Cornelio wouldn't be expected to start every 5th day, or even now and then. Lane wanted to see what he could do in the bullpen full time, and Lozano was on board. He was used out of the bullpen 82 times (to be fair, he was asked to make one start) to great effect.
In 150.2 innings, he struck out an astounding, league-leading 316 opposing batters. The short stints also had a positive impact on his control, as he walked just 3.5 per nine. A 2.43 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 1.46 FIP were good enough to earn him the Frick League Jason Eagan Reliever award with 24 first place votes. He also finished fourth in the Steve Nebraska voting, with 3 second place votes. He earned a very nice 6.9 Wins Above Replacement in the Championship season, helping the Surfers win 100 games and the Frick League Pacific Division Title.
A superior postseason line of 0.95 ERA/0.68 WHIP/0.46 FIP with 39 Ks in 19 innings helped propel the Surfers to Game 7 of the Landis Memorial Series. At age 29, Lozano had not only had his best season, but had also established himself among the best of the best relievers in the BBA, alongside Danny Leach, Shawn Huber and Tiernan O'Macken.
Don't think that all this success had just gone to his head though. In the '44-45 offseason, Lozano worked as hard as ever. In fact, upon returning to Spring Traning 2045, scouts again noted improvement. Assesing his talents at 17/7/4, Lozano had improved in every aspect of his game.
So far in 2045, the 6'1" lefty from San Rafael, Costa Rica is having his best season yet. Halfway through the year, he's pitched 83.2 innings in 52 games. He's struck out 186 batters (that's 20.0 per nine) and has a 0.97 ERA. The strikeouts lead the Frick League, and his 4.0 WAR is third, behind only two of the Frick's best pitchers in Alaric Wullenweber and James Browning. He's holding opposing batters to an absurd .078 average.
If he keeps it up, he's sure to be a shoe-in for a second consecutive Egan Award. And if the Surfers hope to repeat as division champions, they'll definitely need him to continue being the big-game, high-leverage relief ace that he's proven himself to be.
