Heading into the 2021 season, Nicky Lopez’s career was on the bubble. With Kyle Isbel coming on strong, it looked as though Whit would move to 2nd base, leaving Nicky without a job after two miserable seasons.
Then Adalberto Mondesi got hurt, giving Lopez one more opportunity. He started hot, came back down to earth, and then settled into an offensive groove of mediocrity that was just good enough to give him value with his plus defense at shortstop. He was a pleasant surprise.
Then the All-Star Break happened. And Lopez apparently decided to take it a step further.