If Javier Lopez has thrown his final pitch with the Giants, he shouldn’t be remembered for it.

His full-count fastball to eventual World Series champion Anthony Rizzo was outside, leaving two runners aboard with no outs in yet another Giants ninth inning from hell.

Lopez walked off the mound in that Oct. 11 finale (a 6-5 loss to the Cubs in the Division Series) and likely out of the Giants’ plans. He’s 39, experienced a significant statistical drop and was part of a bullpen that needs reconstruction.

“There are a couple of things,” Lopez said when asked to reflect on the 2016 season. “Being the best team in the first half and then the worst team in the second half. More than anything, at least for me, enjoying my time as a Giant and being here and being able to put on the black and orange and just give it my all.

“These guys battled their tails off.”

The left-handed reliever didn’t pitch extensively, only situationally. He’s not usually mentioned in the same breath as postseason heroes Cody Ross, Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum, Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Marco Scutaro, Edgar Renteria, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, Travis Ishikawa, etc. But Lopez’s work on the long and often turbulent roads to World Series championships was darn near impeccable.

With a baffling repertoire of arm angles and off-speed pitches, Lopez posted a 2.47 ERA in seven years with the Giants, and it was a mere 0.73 in 23 appearances (44 batters, one run, five hits) in the postseasons of 2010, 2012 and 2014, each preceding a downtown victory parade.

That’s what should be remembered, along with his off-mound presence, makeup and leadership. Not necessarily that final pitch to Rizzo that was away, which preceded Ben Zobrist’s double off Sergio Romo, Willson Contreras’ single off Will Smith, Brandon Crawford’s throwing error to first base and Javier Baez’s single off Hunter Strickland.

It was a springboard for a determined Cubs team that beat the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series and the Indians in an epic Game 7 of the World Series, securing the first championship on Chicago’s north side since 1908.

For the Giants, the collective bullpen implosion ended their chances to meet the Dodgers in the next round and denied Lopez and others a chance at another World Series ring. Lopez has four, most among active players.

“Obviously, it didn’t end the way we wanted,” he said. “But I do think we rallied at the end of the season and played great baseball and put ourselves in a position to move on and advance. We were three outs away (from Game 5). That’s something you can hang your hat on. That’s what I’ll be proud about.”

Now, the next chapter. Lopez told The Chronicle he wants to keep pitching. He also was asked, when the time comes to retire, would he go out quietly? Or would he go out like Jeremy Affeldt?

Affeldt was among the most vocal Giants during the championship runs and went out with a bang, a splash, a prolonged farewell before the final game of the 2015 season that included an emotional news conference and 15½-minute on-field goodbye speech to fans.

“The kind of person I am,” Lopez said, “you just won’t see me there. I’m more on the quiet side. I think it’s great, a testament to the organization when you can have a guy do that, the way Affeldt addressed the crowd. That was his moment. That was awesome. But I don’t think I’m that kind of guy. I don’t think I’ll do that.”

When retirement does come, several opportunities could be available to Lopez, who has been mentioned as a candidate to coach, manage, broadcast or run a team in a management role.

“Sure, I think about it every once in a while,” Lopez said during the season. “I’m not quite ready to do that yet. But there’s an interest, there’s no doubt. Whatever it is, on the field as a coach or in a front office or in the booth somewhere announcing, when the game’s given you so much, I feel I owe it to the game to give back.”

Lopez yielded one run in 15 outings from mid-August to mid-September before giving up runs in two of his final three outings and another in the final playoff game. His ERA in 2015 was 1.60 but ballooned to 4.05 in 2016, and his walk rate increased.

Left-handed batters’ on-base percentage against Lopez was .315, far different from the .177 mark in 2015.

With Smith, Josh Osich and Steven Okert, the Giants have ample relievers from the left side, but lefty relievers always will be in demand. Jesse Orosco pitched until age 46. Woodie Fryman and Jeff Fassero, 43. Rick Honeycutt and Darren Oliver, 42.

Lopez should be able to find work based on his track record alone (especially his work against tough lefties), not to mention his off-field work — he was a co-winner of the 2016 Willie Mac Award, invaluable to the steady flow of young relievers and was there for Santiago Casilla and Romo during rocky times.

Lopez’s mastery of lefties was particularly noticeable in the Giants’ championship runs. He said 2010 stands out, San Francisco’s first Series title season in which he was acquired from Pittsburgh at the July 31 trade deadline and earned the trust of manager Bruce Bochy, teammates and coaches.

“Not only me, but Cody Ross and the other guys coming in,” Lopez said. “It was all about winning. That was a special feeling. For me, personally, the Phillies series was a big one. That was a special time. I’m never going to forget that.”

Lopez appeared in five games in the 2010 NLCS, retired Chase Utley and Ryan Howard almost nightly and got the win in Philadelphia in the clinching Game 6.

“I came at the right time,” Lopez said. “I didn’t know the World Series would happen. You never know if you’ll run into those, and we ran into three of them. It’s been a whirlwind experience. I mean, this is my sixth team. You don’t expect to set roots in places. It’s not something you normally see in a bullpen. Guys who stick around are usually closers.”

The so-called Core Four of relievers stuck around for a combined 12 rings, but their collective run appears over. One year after Affeldt’s retirement, Lopez, Romo and Casilla are free agents. Casilla saved 123 games with the Giants, Romo 84, but Bochy trusted neither for a full-inning save in the final game of this season. Instead, he went with matchups, which didn’t work.

Casilla’s demise and the lack of a consistent closer to replace him in the second half left reliever roles unsettled. Casilla and Romo could use a fresh start (Romo was seen laughing while being pulled from a game one too many times), and it’s now the job of general manager Bobby Evans and Co. to pursue a bullpen makeover.

“We were in flux a bit on the roles in the bullpen,” Lopez said. “That’s no excuse. You have to get outs.”

John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey