Otto Lopez’s ‘hitting display’ made him an All-Star and the Marlins contenders
Otto Lopez hears the chants at loanDepot park. As he steps up to the batter’s box in key moments, the Miami Marlins’ shortstop has been serenaded with a phrase that he could only dream would apply to him: “MVP.”
“It makes me feel super good,” Lopez said with a smile, “because they motivate me to just keep going, just be comfortable. So I just want to continue.”
Lopez might be a long shot for the National League MVP this season, but he does have a new accolade to add to his name this season: All-Star.
And need a player who personifies what the Marlins have accomplished so far this season? Look no further than the player who will be taking the field at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday to represent them at the 2026 All-Star Game.
(Marlins starting pitcher Max Meyer was also named an All-Star and will also be in Philadelphia but will not participate in the game on Tuesday as Miami gives him an extended stretch to rest after already hitting single-season career high marks for starts and innings pitched.)
Just 27 months ago, the Marlins claimed Lopez off waivers from the San Francisco Giants, giving a middle infielder with just nine MLB games to his name an opportunity to become an established big-leaguer.
And that’s all Lopez needed: An opportunity.
He became a regular for the Marlins shortly after making his debut with the team on April 15, 2024, against the very same Giants team from whom Miami acquired him. He posted decent numbers offensively while playing solid defense, first at second base and then shortstop, in his first two years before putting together one of the best first halves in Marlins history.
Lopez enters the All-Star break leading MLB in hits (127), multihit games (40), batting average (.334) and doubles (26). He’s still playing above-average defense, tied for fifth in MLB in defensive runs saved among shortstops (three) and tied for ninth at the position in outs above average (four) and fielding run value (four).
He is a big reason the Marlins are 52-45 at the break, a record that has them currently in the National League’s third wild-card spot and just three games back of the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.
And a big reason Lopez is having the success he’s having? He has learned from past mistakes.
Bench coach Carson Vitale challenged Lopez to look back at all of his at-bats from the 2025 season, a year in which he set a career high with 15 home runs (the most by a Marlins shortstop since Hanley Ramirez had 21 in the 2010 season) but also only hit .246 with a .673 on-base-plus-slugging mark.
“Look at how many at-bats you were throwing away,” Lopez remembered Vitale saying.
He struggled when he fell behind in the count, when the odds were against him.
This year has been a completely different story.
Lopez is hitting .320 (49 for 153) when the pitcher is ahead in the count compared to .188 (43 for 229) a year ago. He’s hitting .268 (48 for 179) when he has two strikes compared to .188 (49 for 261) in 2025.
His approach is simpler when his back’s against the wall in a given plate appearance. He will do what he has to in order to stay alive, to remain competitive.
A lot of times, it results in him using his legs to beat out groundballs. Lopez has 23 infield hits — accounting for 18.1% of his total hit production this season — but if it means getting on base compared to trotting back to the dugout, he will take it.
“With my speed, I can make the most of those situations,” Lopez said. “When I have two strikes, I’m just trying to put the ball in play. Sometimes that’s what happens. I’m never trying to get groundballs. I’m always working to get line drives to put the ball in a good spot where I can get extra bases too, but sometimes we can’t control them also.”
And the power is there, too. Lopez has a hard-hit rate, defined as the percentage of balls put in play with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph, of 42.7%, an increase from his 38.3% rate in 2024 and 38.9% mark in 2024.
He will elevate the ball when he’s able to be more selective earlier in the count. After all, he does have 41 extra-base hits, including nine home runs and six triples to go along with his 26 doubles. His .873 OPS entering the All-Star break is 200 points higher than what he produced last season.
“It’s been a real hitting display,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said, “and how he moves the ball around the field. He’s hitting all pitch types so — much better this year versus sinkers — and getting a lot more balls in the air this year than he has in the past. When he gets two hits in a game, you’re not even really surprised anymore. It just seems like it’s every single night.”
Now, he’s the fourth shortstop in Marlins history to become an All-Star, joining a list that includes Ramirez (2008-2010), Alex Gonzalez (1999) and Edgar Renteria (1998).
He found out the news at Sutter Health Park when Miami played the Athletics. That just so happens to be the home field for the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple A affiliate of the Giants that Lopez was playing for when he was designated for assignment — the domino fall that led to him joining the Marlins.
“This is the team that DFA’d me, and now I became an All-Star in the same place,” Lopez told reporters in West Sacramento when the news was announced. “It’s a good story I would say.”
It’s a story that, just like his team as a whole, Lopez hopes is just beginning.
The Marlins still have 65 games left in the regular season, which will resume Friday with a road series at the Milwaukee Brewers. That’s two-and-a-half months to continue their push for a playoff berth after Miami turned its season around with an emphatic showing as of late.
Since the start of June, Miami is an MLB-best 26-11.
So while Tuesday will be a special moment individually for Lopez, he is striving for more.
“We’re showing what we want from now on until October,” Lopez said. “We want October baseball here in Miami. That’s what I’m focused on.”
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