What Will The Miami Marlins Decide To Do About Pablo Lopez?

A quarter of the way into the 2022 season, it’s time for the Miami Marlins to talk about Pablo Lopez…

The fact that the Miami Marlins best player this season has been a pitcher should come as no surprise to anyone.

But the fact that the pitcher in question is named Pablo Lopez? That’s a little more worthy of scratching one’s head over.

Unlike the always reliable Sandy Alcantara, and last year’s Rookie of The Year runner up Trevor Rogers, Lopez entered 2022 much the same way he’s entered almost every season he’s played for the Marlins: with significant questions. Most of them were injury related, as Lopez has displayed a maddening inability to stay healthy. Obviously, there is still plenty of season left for that concern to prove valid. However, Lopez has also been famously prone to some pretty spectacular blow-ups in a way not typical of a star pitcher. Starts have gotten away from him in a hurry on occasion. In terms of overall production, prior to this season, it would be fair to score it as solid-but not elite. A great No. 3, but not an ace.

Right now, Lopez is looking an awful lot like he’s made that leap. Eight starts into the season, and his worst start only saw him surrender 3 ERs. A stretch like that has never happened before in his career. What’s more, in the only two outings where it’s fair to say Lopez struggled, he battled out of it. Made adjustments, minimizing the damage. That’s what aces do for an MLB team.  And it would now appear that the Miami Marlins have two of them.

So what should the organization do about it? Is it time to offer an extension? Do they need to make him one of the stars of the MLB Trade Deadline this summer? Or do they just ride it out for now? In short, it’s time to talk about Pablo.