The hits keep coming for Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez
There’s this secret. Hiding right in the Miami Marlins infield. Ask a baseball fan who leads the majors in hits. Go ahead. See what they say.
Shohei htani. Bobby Witt Jr.. Maybe Ronald Acuña Jr.. The answer may surprise a few people. In fact, it might send a few baseball fans back to check the leaderboard. It’s Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez.
Yes, really. Go ahead and check the leaderboard. He will still be there.
Through Monday’s games the Marlins infielder led all of baseball with 86 hits. And 25 multihit games.
With Sandy Alcantara on the mound and having yet another dominant performance Sunday, it was Lopez who had the biggest spark offensively for the Marlins.
Through five innings? Hitless. Marlins down 1-0. Pitcher’s duel. SpongeBob SquarePants Day at loanDepot Park with 14,525 people there, and still nobody could score.
Then one swing changed everything.
Liam Hicks walks. Lopez drives one to center. Splits the outfielders. Rolls all the way to the warning track. Hicks scores. Lopez slides into third. RBI triple. Tie score.
The Marlins only had four hits all afternoon. So yeah. That one came at the perfect time.
Manager Clayton McCullough wasn’t surprised.
“We were able to create enough chances for ourselves,” he said, “and Otto continued to come up with big hits.”
Next batter? Kyle Stowers. Sac fly to left. Lopez tag and scores the go-ahead run. 2-1, Marlins.
Miami added two more runs in the seventh inning. Joe Mack reached base on a fielder’s choice that scored Esteury Ruiz. Then Jakob Marsee came home on a throwing error by Hunter Feduccia. 4-1.
But Lopez wasn’t done yet.
Eighth inning. He lines a double. Second extra-base hit of the day. Finished 2 for 4 with a double, triple, a run scored and an RBI. It was his fourth game this season with multiple extra-base hits.
And lately? Over his last six games, Lopez is on a complete tear going 10 for 26 (.385). He also has four extra-base hits. Two RBI. Four runs scored.
That has been his whole season, really.
Other guys crush homers. Make “SportsCenter.” Lopez just keeps having good at-bats. Makes contact. Gets on base. Delivers when the Marlins need runners.
Maybe that’s why he has flown under the radar.
Lopez is quietly having one of the most productive seasons out there.
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He came into Sunday hitting .333. That’s way up from .246 last year. It’s the biggest jump among qualified hitters in the whole league. Since May 4? Thirteen multihit games. In 33 contests.
Fans talks power. Homers. Exit velocity.
Lopez does something different.
Every lineup needs that one guy. The table-setter who extends innings and puts pressure on the defense. For the Marlins it’s Lopez, and the production? You can’t ignore it.
Most hits in baseball. Most multi-hit games in baseball. At some point, that gets attention.
The Marlins are trying to figure out their future core. Most of the talk is about prospects who aren’t here yet. Or vets who might get traded.
This franchise is looking for reasons to believe. Lopez might be one of the best things that’s happened all year. There are still questions. Still roster moves to make. Still uncertainty with the trade deadline coming.
But one position, they probably don’t need to wonder about this anymore is shortstop. Lopez is proof that some of Miami’s the best players are already in the room.
The entire MLB is starting to notice. But the Marlins noticed months ago.
Miami noticed months ago.
