Marlins SS Otto Lopez Should be an All-Star

MIAMI — While there is still a month’s worth of baseball to go, we have seen enough.

Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez should be an All-Star.

Not just an All-Star, but the starting shortstop of the National League. After all, the third-year Marlin leads Major League Baseball in batting average (.341) and hits (89). He is also second among all shortstops in total bases (128) and OPS (.859), while being third in on-base percentage (.369).

With Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz currently on the injured list, the chase for the top spot at shortstop is between Lopez and CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals.

After Lopez knocked in three hits, including the go-ahead single in the Marlins’ 10-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, manager Clayton McCullough made the case for why he should be in Philadelphia on July 14.

“This has been a hitting machine since day one of the season, and he’s played a high-level defense,” McCullough said. “There’s hard to find someone at that position in our league that’s having a better year offensively than he is with the average, the clutch hits, and the extra base hits. He’s really doing it on both sides of the ball, and he’s making a very strong case for himself each and every day.”

Lopez is a success story in terms of Peter Bendix’s track record of finding diamonds in the rough. Lopez, born in the Dominican Republic but raised in Canada, spent his first two MLB seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Marlins claimed Lopez off waivers from the San Francisco Giants in 2024, where he batted .270 with a .690 OPS, six home runs, and 39 RBI through 117 games.

Lopez’s slash numbers dropped in 2025, but his power rose with 15 home runs and 77 RBIs. Now, all of his numbers are up.

“I feel pretty good at the plate,” Lopez said. “All the work that I’ve been putting in that year to now, it’s all the experience that’s been working.”