Otto Lopez Joins Marlins Legends with Latest Accomplishment

It's no secret that Otto Lopez has been incredible to begin 2026, but it's been hard to quantify.

The Miami Marlins shortstop leads the team in average, doubles, and hits, and is in the top three in many other categories. With his single in the first inning of the Marlins' bout with the Rays on Saturday afternoon, Lopez joined the history books.

According to Miami's communications department, he became just the seventh player in Marlins history to record 60+ hits in 45 games to start a season, and he's in elite company. He joins Luis Arraez, Miguel Cabrera, Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre, Hanley Ramirez, and Dee Strange-Gordon.

Lopez's first month and a half of the season has been extraordinary. Last season, he posted a .246/.305/.368 slash line and 3.5 bWAR over 143 games, his largest sample size in the big leagues. The Marlins claimed him off waivers a week into the 2024 season, and he played well through 117 games that season, but not this well.

His .270/.313/.377 slash line was enough to give him mostly everyday playing time at shortstop in 2025, but he regressed offensively. This season has been a different story from the plate, but his fielding has taken a hit. Lopez is tied for third in the league with seven errors, the second most of any shortstop.

He's on pace to blaze past his former career high of 10 errors set last season. While he still has work to do in the field, he's far from a lost cause. He recorded 13 defensive runs above average between shortstop and second base last season, and has 21 over his career. Even with his massive amount of errors this season, he's still dead even (or average) in this category.

Otto Lopez’s Otherworldly Start