Miami Marlins hat Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Marlins Shortstop Criminally Undervalued in Latest Positional Ranking

Originally posted on Miami Marlins on SI | By Scott Roche | Last updated Feb 5, 2026 3:00 PM ET

Going into the 2026 season, there are some Miami Marlins players looking to repeat a breakout 2025 season. One of those players is outfielder Kyel Stowers, who was a finalist for the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards. Shortstop Otto López made the move from second base when Xavier Edwards was hurt early in the season.

It was a move that manager Clayton McCullough made a permanent one when Edwards came back and it led him to being a Gold Glove finalist at second. López is expected to be back at shortstop in 2026 and Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently ranked all 30 starting shortstops for the upcoming season and his ranking for López was low.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Marlins Shortstop Otto López Undervalued in Latest Rankings

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Reuter ranked López 20th out of the 32 starting shortstops going into 2026. That is a little surprising, as the case could be made that he's certainly closer to the middle of the pack than the bottom half.

"López shifted from second base to shortstop when Xavier Edwards landed on the injured list in mid-May, and the Marlins ultimately decided to make the move permanent, with Edwards ending up as a Gold Glove finalist at second base. Between his strong defense and a stellar .308/.366/.462 line with runners in scoring position, López might have been the most underappreciated 3-WAR player in baseball,'' Reuter wrote.

There is no doubt that Miami has a good young double play combination in the middle of the field for the future. López played a career-high 143 games and the 27-year-old hit 17 home runs and drove in 77 runs. His overall slash line is not as good as his slash line with runners in scoring position, but his ability to come up big in the clutch was what helped to keep the Marlins in playoff contention until September.

There are questions surrounding what Miami can do this year after they traded away two pitchers, Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers, and leaving Sandy Alcantara as the ace of the staff. Players like López and Stowers are going to need to stay healthy and continue to take the next step.

Can López improve his offensive numbers of 17 home runs and 77 RBIs? If the Marlins are going to be in the mix in the National League playoff race, he will need to. Coming in at No. 20 feels like a low ranking for López, but if he can improve on his numbers again in 2026, there is no doubt that he can move up the rankings going into 2027.