Nicky Lopez did not need much time to settle in with the Texas Rangers. Signed before Wednesday’s game against the Houston Astros, he was added to the roster and put right into the lineup at second base, replacing Justin Foscue.
Lopez smiled at the fit, especially with Jacob deGrom on the same side now. “I’m glad I’m sharing the diamond with Jacob deGrom now,” he said, then added with the dry edge of a player who has seen enough: “I don’t ever wanna see him again.” Lopez has faced deGrom three times and does not have a hit, and he went 0-for-3 on Wednesday in his first game with Texas. Later, when Ezequiel Duran left with an illness, Lopez slid over to shortstop and kept moving around the infield as the Rangers needed him to.
That flexibility is the point. Texas is without Josh Smith and Corey Seager for at least a couple more weeks, and Lopez gives the club a glove-first option who can cover every infield spot. He has made a living on that kind of usefulness since his MLB debut with Kansas City in 2019, playing in 694 big league games with a.245/.309/.310 career line, seven home runs and four seasons with 10 or more doubles.
The bat has never been the selling point. Lopez went 0-for-3 with the Cubs before they designated him for assignment last weekend, and he did not have a hit in five at-bats there. Texas wanted defense, range and coverage more than power, and Lopez arrived carrying a.989 fielding percentage overall and a.990 mark at second base. He also led the American League while playing shortstop for the Royals in 2021, a reminder of how much ground he can cover when the job asks for it.
The Rangers made a roster move for the present, but Lopez’s longer stay will depend on how they sort through their injured infield once Smith and Seager are ready. For now, he is in the lineup, in the middle of the action and already filling the role Texas brought him in to play.
