Felipe Lopez to play left field for Nationals
With both Elijah Dukes and Wily Mo Pena on the disabled list, the Nationals are going to trot Felipe Lopez out to left field today.
Lopez has never played in the outfield, with most of his work coming at second base or shortstop. He spent about half an hour out in left field with first base coach Jerry Morales trying to learn more about the position. To get an idea of how the balls would be coming off the bat from homeplate, he had Willie Harris hitting soft tosses out to left.
Lopez isn’t upset about the potential shift to left, saying “I just want to get at-bats. It doesn’t scare me. I’m not nervous. I’m ready to take on the challenge.”
You have to wonder what the move will do to the team when Dukes and Pena come off the disabled list. Normally you don’t move a player to a brand new position to them for a short-term plug, but perhaps Lopez came up with the idea in an effort to get at bats with Ronnie Belliard and Chritian Guzman taking all the at bats up the middle.
Filed under: Elijah Dukes, Felipe Lopez, Washington Nationals, Wily Mo Pena