Aaron Loup

Aaron Christopher Loup (born December 19, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent.

He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Angels.

Born in Raceland, Louisiana, Loup played baseball at Hahnville High School and Tulane University, where he led his teams to several state playoff appearances and recorded a five-hit shutout.

Loup was born on December 19, 1987, in Raceland, Louisiana.

His father and grandfather influenced his baseball interest the most when he was young, and he says that it was "just all baseball all the time", with "a little football".

Loup said that when he was 13, "My dad had me in the backyard almost every day—or at least it seemed that way. I was always doing something, whether it was pitching off the mound or hitting in the cage. I wanted to play baseball and knew that I needed to work hard to get there. As a kid, I needed to be reminded of that sometimes."

His baseball role models growing up were Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine.

Loup played baseball at Hahnville High School, where he led the Hahnville Fighting Tigers to four state playoff appearances.

As a sophomore, he threw a complete-game no-hitter against Terrebonne High School.

He then attended Tulane University, where he majored in digital design and played for the Tulane Green Wave from freshman year until his junior year, when he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays.

As a freshman for the Green Wave, he held a 4.37 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 35 innings.

As a sophomore, he held a 5.66 ERA in 472⁄3 innings, as well as pitching a perfect inning of relief on April 26, 2008.

After the 2008 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Before being drafted in his junior year, he had thrown 571⁄3 innings.

He was drafted by the Blue Jays out of Tulane in the ninth round of the 2009 draft.

The Blue Jays drafted Loup in the ninth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.

Loup had shown a strong performance playing for the Tulane Green Wave and was the second Green Wave player to be drafted.

Loup said of the event, "I had 20 people text message me before I even heard anything and then my phone rang and I got the call. It's exciting. They told me they would call me as soon as the draft was over and we would discuss details, so hopefully everything will shake out."

After the draft, Loup played for the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays in 2009.

In the 2009 season, he held a 3.86 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 161⁄3 innings.

In 2010, he was moved up to the Lansing Lugnuts, one of the Class A affiliates of the Blue Jays, where he held a 4.54 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 731⁄3 innings.

On June 22, 2010, Loup was chosen a Mid-Season All-Star.

He missed the last two months of the season with an unknown injury and began 2011 on the disabled list.

In 2011, he was moved to the Dunedin Blue Jays, the Class A-Advanced Blue Jays affiliate, where he held a 4.66 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 652⁄3 innings.

After playing for three years with minor-league affiliates for the Toronto Blue Jays and being chosen for the 2012 Eastern League All-Star Game, Loup was called up to the Blue Jays as a replacement for Luis Pérez and retired all six batters he faced.

He was later voted the 2012 Toronto Blue Jays Rookie of the Year by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).

In 2012, Loup joined the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

There, he boasted 36 Eastern League appearances, a 2.84 ERA, and 43 strikeouts in 441⁄3 innings.

After his teammate Sam Dyson was promoted to the Blue Jays, Loup was Dyson's replacement for the Minor League Baseball 2012 Eastern League All-Star Game.

Loup began 2012 with the Fisher Cats.

In the 2012 season, the Toronto Blue Jays used 32 different pitchers due to frequent injuries, and Loup was among these.

He was called up to replace Luis Pérez on July 14 after Pérez tore his ulnar collateral ligament.

In his debut, Loup retired all six batters he faced.

Loup pitched 11⁄3 innings on Opening Day in 2013, and went on to win his first major league game on April 10 against the Detroit Tigers.

He recorded his first two major league saves on April 12 and June 2, and led the Blue Jays to a win in an 18-inning game on June 8 after a pair of groundouts.

Loup is a southpaw whose pitching drastically improved after coaches told him to become a sidearm pitcher.

His fastball has been noted as particularly effective against both left- and right-handed batters, but he continues to struggle with a changeup.

Manager John Gibbons does not view Loup as a long reliever, but rather as a "situational, one-inning guy."

He is known for his "relaxed" personality, which has improved after spending time with his teammates.

On August 3, Loup became the first pitcher in Blue Jays history to bat in an American League game, grounding out to begin the top of the 15th against the Oakland Athletics.