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Javier López faced 756 different batters while pitching for five teams from 2003-2016. Frequently employed as a lefty specialist, the sidewinding native of San Juan, Puerto Rico did so to the tune of a 3.48 ERA, 14 saves, and a 30-17 won-lost record across 839 appearances. He also earned four World Series rings. López lifted a trophy with the Boston Red Sox in 2007, and with the San Francisco Giants in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

How well does the now Giants broadcast analyst remember his matchups against the hitters he faced? Interested to find out, I recently sat down him for the latest installment of our Challenging Career Quiz series.

I began by asking which player he faced the most times. His first guess, Chase Utley, was incorrect. His second was likewise wrong — although he did get the surname right. It wasn’t Adrián González, but rather Carlos González.

What are López’s recollections of the longtime Colorado Rockies outfielder?

“What I remember about facing Cargo is that he was an absolute monster,” the pitcher-turned-broadcaster said of the 2010 NL batting champion, whom he held to just four hits and one walk in 26 plate appearances. “He had such a sweet swing. I remember giving up a monster home run to him in Colorado. I hung a breaking ball and he hit it off the facing of the second deck. He was pretty impressive.”

Bobby Abreu was the batter López faced the second-most times (24), and he also has distinct memories of him.

“I definitely remember facing him at The Vet when I was a rookie,” said López, referring to Philadelphia’s old Veterans Stadium. “Another guy who was a pro with his approach. He would keep his shoulder in against you, and he could do damage. I would try to locate something down and away to him as much as I could.

“When I was here with the Red Sox and he was with the Yankees, everything was heightened even more, because of the rivalry,” he went on to say. “Just like with Cargo, I made it a point not to ever meet guys while I was playing against them. You don’t want to be too friendly. If you happen to be in the same space at the same time, then you’ll talk to them, but I tried to avoid too many interactions with guys I knew I would be facing fairly often.”

Asked who took him deep the most times, the lefty chewed on the question before guessing Steve Finley. That answer was correct, albeit not to the full extent. Finley was among the 26 individuals to homer off of López, who was impressively never victimized more than once by any of them.

Cargo’s home run aside, what was the most memorable among the blasts López allowed?

“Another majestic one I gave up was to Pedro Álvarez, the third baseman for the Pirates,” the former sidearmer recalled. “It was to right-center in Pittsburgh, and a pretty good shot. If you’re going to give them up, why not make them big? That one was very big.”

The most hits? That question elicited three whiffs. Brian Giles (5-for-11) and Aubrey Huff (5-for-12) were near misses, while the southpaw’s third stab — “How about the late great Garrett Anderson?” — totaled just two knocks in four at-bats.

The correct answer is Carl Crawford, who went 6-for-18 with three doubles.

“I gave up six hits to Carl Crawford?” he asked in response to the news. “I can believe it.”

Giles, whose three two-baggers matched Crawford for the most off López, is among the most-underrated hitters of his time (a 136 wRC+ across 15 seasons). I shared that opinion with López.

“I thought so, too,” he concurred. “Great hitter. I think he needed a bigger stage. He kind of got lost in Pittsburgh, and then he got lost in San Diego a little bit. But he was a heck of a player. Maybe it’s because he wasn’t the true power-hitting lefty that was around at that time? I remember him being spread out and pretty quiet in the box.”

What about the batter who went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles? That question elicited his asking if it was yet another left-handed hitter. He promptly nailed the correct answer upon learning it was a righty.

“It would be Mark DeRosa,” López stated confidently. “And I’ll tell you exactly why he had success. He loved to inside-out the ball and serve it to right field, He didn’t try to do anything more than that. It was the best way for hitters to approach me. His swing was perfect for that.”

López was also quick with an answer when asked which of the dozen batters he faced 15 or more times had the least amount of success. Utley went just 1-for-18 in 21 plate appearances.

“I kept everything down in the zone, and he liked to stay through the ball and kind of work it center field to right field,” reasoned López. “With the swing he had at the time, it was hard for him to manipulate the bat if I kept the ball down and away. I don’t think I struck him out all that much, but I got a lot of pulled groundballs, a lot of 4-3 outs.”

Indeed, he didn’t strike out Utley much — just twice in their 21 matchups. But what batter did López punch out the most?

“I don’t know how many times I faced him, but I feel like I struck out Adam LaRoche a lot,” López said of the batter he dominated more than anyone. “I feel like I faced him nine times and struck him out eight times. Something in that range. But maybe the answer is Jay Bruce?”

Bingo on Bruce, and nearly exact on LaRoche. The latter did go 0-for-9 with eight strikeouts off López, but he also reached once via a free pass. As for the former, he fanned nine times while going 2-for-18 with a pair of walks.

“I felt like Adam LaRoche just never truly felt comfortable facing me,” said López, who earned a degree in psychology at the University of Virginia. “I kind of sensed that in his body language when he was walking up to the plate. Staying down and away, I was able to get him to chase. With Jay Bruce, it was just a matter of staying out of his swing plane. Anything middle-middle in was major damage for him. It is for a lot of lefties. But Bruce would leak his front shoulder just enough to where if I stayed away, he would end up missing the ball. Both of those guys could juice a baseball, though. They were interesting matchups.”