Lopez self-made All-Star
SEATTLE – The emotion hit Jose Lopez all at once, a sudden realization that the 5 a.m. wakeup calls and 300 groundballs each morning during the off-season were worth it after all.
His manager, Mike Hargrove, had just announced that the Seattle Mariners had two All-Stars on the roster. Outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was a given, and while Lopez had put together an impressive first-half, doubt remained that the 22-year-old would be given the respect by his peers to be an All-Star so soon and so young.
Hargrove strung along the youngster for only 15 or 20 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity to Lopez. When he finally announced that Lopez was Seattle’s second representative, the young second baseman couldn’t stop a few tears from streaming down his cheeks.
Considering how close Lopez was to finding himself back in the minor leagues, the emotion was almost expected.
“From the first day of the year I worked hard. I tried not to make the All-Star team, I just tried to win my job first,” Lopez said. “My first full season with Seattle, my first time making the All-Star team, it was really good for me, but I was still crying.”
Lopez’s growth has been a pleasant surprise in another mediocre season in the Emerald City, much of it because of Lopez’s willingness to re-examine and retool his game in the off-season.
Entering the Mariners’ final three games before the All-Star break, Lopez was hitting .278, with nine home runs and 58 RBIs. He’s also tied for the American League lead in triples (7) and has committed just six errors in 397 chances.
When the 2005 season ended, Lopez was an average second baseman with limited range, with a label for simply being a straight-pull hitter at the plate. Hitting the ball to center or right field was a foreign concept to Lopez.
In 54 games last season, Lopez hit a meager .247, and showed little of the spark that made him a top minor-league prospect.
At the conclusion of last season Lopez and infield coach Carlos Garcia spent a week at the team’s instructional facility in Arizona, focusing on Lopez’s defensive and mental approach.
Lopez was a shortstop coming up through the Mariners’ farm system, but was moved to second base last year after the team acquired Cuban defector Yuniesky Bentancourt. His arm was plenty strong, but Lopez’s lack of range almost made him a liability.
“He wasn’t moving at all,” said Garcia, a former infielder with four teams. “His range was so limited, because sometimes he was taking chop, chop steps, rather than taking long steps.
“We weren’t happy in the way he played defense.”
For a week, Garcia and Lopez awoke at dawn and proceeded to reinvent his defensive approach. They worked on positioning, anticipation, footwork and, of course, fielding – hundreds of grounders each morning.
Lopez took the lessons from his weeklong boot camp back to Venezuela, where he played over the winter. Lopez spent much of his time at shortstop, but Garcia would regularly chime in reminding Lopez to get his work done at second base as well.
Still, the Mariners wondered if Lopez would respond to the warnings. Seattle invited 36-year-old Fernando Vina to camp with the promise of having every opportunity to win Lopez’s job.
Lopez arrived early and started extensive work with hitting coach Jeff Pentland on hitting the ball somewhere other than left field. Garcia and Lopez picked up where they left off in the fall.
Lopez showed enough maturity with improving his game that when Hargrove decided to shake up the Mariners’ batting order at the start of June, he didn’t hesitate to slide Lopez into the No. 3 spot. It was another accomplishment for Lopez in an already solid season.
“He certainly came to understand and realize the importance of doing his job every day,” Hargrove said. “It has been a lot of effort by a lot of people, but none more so than what Jose has done himself.”