All-Diamond Team: Javy López

In 2025, The Diamond hosts its 40^th and final season of professional baseball in Richmond. Between the Richmond Braves from 1985-2008 and the Richmond Flying Squirrels since 2010, countless future major leaguers have taken the steps from the first base dugout onto The Diamond’s playing surface.

Prior to the season, fans voted for The All-Diamond Team, selecting one manager as well as 14 of their favorite players who have gone on to MLB stardom after suiting up for the R-Braves and Flying Squirrels.

We continue the announcement of the All-Diamond Team with the fans’ choice for catcher, Javy López.

Manager: Grady Little
Starting Pitcher: John Smoltz
Starting Pitcher: Tom Glavine
Starting Pitcher: Logan Webb
Relief Pitcher: Mike Stanton
Relief Pitcher: Hunter Strickland
Utility Player: Mark DeRosa
Catcher: Javy Lopez
First Baseman: TBA
Second Baseman: TBA
Shortstop: TBA
Third Baseman: TBA
Outfielder: TBA
Outfielder: TBA
Outfielder: TBA

Javy López signed with the Braves in 1987 and climbed step-by-step up the minor-league ladder over the next five seasons. In 1992, he earned a September call-up to Atlanta and played nine games.

In 1993, he returned to the minors to play with the Richmond Braves at Triple-A. He was one of Richmond’s “Great Eight” that year, thought to be one of the best collections of future major leaguers seen in a long time, including López, first baseman Ryan Klesko, second baseman Ramon Caraballo, shortstop Chipper Jones, third baseman José Oliva and outfielders Tony Tarasco, Melvin Nieves and Mike Kelly.

Richmond had a team filled with superstar prospects and they were very young for the level. The R-Braves’ Opening Day starting lineup average age was 21.6 years.

López was 22 years old. He was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 20 prospect in baseball considered to be the top catching prospect in the minors. The previous year in 1992, López was the MVP of the Double-A Southern League, helping lead Greenville to the league title.

He began his Triple-A career on April 8, 1993, as Richmond’s Opening Day catcher in a 9-0 blowout on the road against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. López went 2-for-4 in the game and drove an RBI double in the eighth inning.

On April 18 at The Diamond, López helped spark a big comeback win over Rochester. With the R-Braves down 5-0, he clubbed his first Richmond homer, a three-run shot in the seventh inning that hit the scoreboard.

After Richmond tied the game in the eighth, López hit a one-out double off the left-center wall in the bottom of the ninth and scored the walk-off winning run on a single by Klesko.

The homer snapped a slow start to the season for López. He had gone hitless in his last 16 at-bats.

López continued to excel offensively with the R-Braves. He posted a 13-game hit streak in June. On June 22, he hit a two-out, two-run single to lift Richmond to a 9-7 win over Pawtucket.

On July 14, he joined Jones and Klesko as starters in the Triple-A All-Star Game in Albuquerque.

As the summer rolled on, López continued to keep his batting average above .300 and continued showing his ability to hit for power. He was also the R-Braves RBI leader.

He displayed his offensive potential, but his defense was an area of development focus. He committed 10 errors and was leading the league with 15 passed balls.

Entering the season, López said he hoped his stay in Richmond would be a short one. He was hoping to be in the running for National League Rookie of the Year. As the year went on, he embraced the fact that he was not getting back to the majors quite as quickly as he thought.

With a team filled with as many highly touted prospects as the 1993 Richmond Braves had, many players were keeping an eye on what was happening with the big-league team. R-Braves manager Grady Little, who had led most of the players in the lower minors, kept them in check. He was often quoted as saying, “If your mind’s in Atlanta, your butt’s going to be in Richmond.”

As the season went on, López assumed he would stay with Richmond until September call-ups. But on August 17, he got the surprise news from Little that he was being promoted to Atlanta.

Braves catcher Greg Olson had suffered an injury to his right arm, opening a spot for López.

At the time, he was eighth in the International League with a .305 batting average and fourth with 74 RBIs.

In his first start of the year back in the majors, López went 3-for-4 and hit his first MLB home run. He also had 17 home runs.

López spent the rest of the season in the majors. After the R-Braves postseason run was halted by rival Charlotte, he was joined by September call-ups including Jones, Klesko, Tarasco and Caraballo as Atlanta outran the Giants for the National League West crown.

The year of “The Great Eight” in Richmond did not lead to an IL championship, but it did see an R-Braves attendance record at The Diamond, the fifth-best record in franchise history at the time and many of the club’s offensive records shattered.

López went on to play 15 seasons in the majors, including 12 in Atlanta. He was selected as a National League All-Star three times, won the 1995 World Series and was named the MVP of the 1996 NLCS.

In 2014, he was inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.