Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez has established himself as one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball over the last four seasons. Incredibly, he almost didn't play baseball.
Lopez graduated high school at the age of 16 and was accepted to medical school shortly after. With both of his parents in the medical field, Lopez dreamed of following in their footsteps. He was also exceptionally good at baseball, which made for a tough decision when the Seattle Mariners offered him his first professional contract.
Lopez said his father helped him make a difficult decision, but one that has certainly to pay off.
“He said it's 100 percent your decision. Whichever way you go, I know you're going to do great things,” Lopez said. “But the best way I can tell you to look at it right now is, if you choose to play baseball and it doesn't work out as well as you think it could, college is still going to be there. If you choose college and you don't like it, I think the baseball opportunity might be a little harder to get.”
To the dismay of some of his family members, Lopez decided on baseball. After signing a four-year, $73 million contract extension with the Twins after they traded for him in January, it's safe to say Lopez made the right choice.
The Twins see Pablo Lopez as a stalwart in their rotation for the present and future. Once he retires from baseball, he could trade the MLB in for an M.D.
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