Otto Lopez's All-Star rise with the Marlins stings a little bit for Blue Jays fans

The Toronto Blue Jays' lineup has been lacking all season long. As a whole, the team ranks 25th in wRC+ (92), and 27th in runs (366). That offensive downturn is a big reason why they've gone from the cusp of a championship to well below .500.

There are a lot of people to blame for these struggles, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.689 OPS) and George Springer (93 wRC+). However, the front office also shares some of the responsibility here, and I'm not just talking about letting Bo Bichette (.303 OBP) and Kyle Tucker (.248 average) slip through their fingers over the offseason.

How about we focus on former Blue Jay Otto Lopez, who barely got any run in Toronto before the team designated him for assignment to make room for Yariel Rodriguez... who himself was recently DFA'd.

Well, it's been a long journey for Lopez since being cut loose in that fateful transaction back in January of 2024, but he's now emerged as a local legend in Miami, leading all of MLB in batting average through the season's first half. For his efforts, he was also named an All-Star, and he's more deserving of the honor than either Guerrero or Ernie Clement are.

Blue Jays are finally coming to regret giving Otto Lopez away for nothing

Obviously, when you're the current leader in the clubhouse for baseball's batting title, your numbers are going to be impressive. Still, Lopez has come from seemingly out of nowhere to hit .343/.374/.515 (141 wRC+) with nine homers and 17 steals, finally discovering the offensive prowess to match his elite middle-infield defense.

Some Blue Jays fans may remember his slow-but-steady rise through the minor-league ranks as a teenager, when he would routinely post enormous contact rates and high steal totals but lacked the pop needed to be considered a top prospect. He simply couldn't break through the Triple-A barrier with the organization, hence the decision to part ways in 2024 after seven years together.

Now, he's the exact hitter this team lacks atop the lineup. Sure, his improvement in the power department was hard to predict, but the skills that define his game have always been on display. Not everyone can succeed in the big leagues with a walk rate below 5%, but Lopez has finally channelled a way to turn his elite bat-to-ball abilities into meaningful contact.

It's easy to regret the choice to let him go now, but at the time, a middle infield depth chart that consisted of Bichette, Clement, and Spencer Horwitz was blocking Lopez's path to playing time in Toronto. This is a true change-of-scenery success story, one that the Blue Jays just happened to be on the wrong side of.

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