Jose Lopez is Heating Up

Last season, Jose Lopez showed signs that he was beginning to develop into a solid hitter with some power. In the 2008 season, he hit .297 and went deep 17 times. This was a big difference compared to his 2007 totals of .252, with 11 long balls.

After putting on a great performance for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, it looked like he aws going to successfully carry his momentum and success into the 2009 season.

Those hopes were quickly dashed, though, as he got off to a very mediocre start this year. He was swinging at more first pitches than ever, while making a lot of weak outs and grounding into what seemed like hundreds of rally killing double plays.

June was a different story though. In the month of June, Jose hit .329, with five dingers, and a .592 SLG that bested even Russell Branyan, bringing his season home run total to 10 and his batting average up to .258. Still not very good, but he’s getting there.

His defense has also improved as of late, raising his UZR for the season to -2.3. That’s still not good, but it’s tolerable and has been going up lately.

Jose has gotten back on track and is now on pace for another productive season, figuring to finish with around 20 bombs and 90 RBI. Keep in mind that he’s still only 25, and it still might be too early to lose all hope in him improving his approach at the plate.

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