Otto Lopez producing for surging Marlins, who take on rested Giants

Otto Lopez, who leads the majors in batting average at .336, will lead the host Miami Marlins against the San Francisco Giants in the start of a three-game series on Friday night.

Lopez, who is being pushed by Miami as an All-Star this year, leads Marlins qualifiers in OPS (.841) and ranks second in steals (13) and on-base percentage (.368).

"I'm more on my front leg," the shortstop told MLB Network when asked about his improvement over last season, when he hit .246. "When I sit up, I'm going to attack forward.

"I've worked really hard to get to where I am. Being in the All-Star Game would be a dream."

The Marlins, who have not announced a pitcher for Friday, would even their record at 38-38 if they were to beat the Giants in the series opener. That would be big for Miami, which has won four of its past five series.

In fact, the team was at eight games below .500 before its current hot streak of 11-4 this month.

Besides Lopez, the Marlins have been powered on offense by Liam Hicks, who leads the Marlins in homers (13) and RBIs (52). Xavier Edwards tops Miami in triples (four) and on-base percentage (.375) while collecting 11 steals.

In addition, rookie catcher Joe Mack (.727 OPS) has been impressive in his first 33 games in the majors. Jakob Marsee (team-high 17 steals), 2025 All-Star Kyle Stowers and Esteury Ruiz (.920 OPS in 40 games) have all had their moments.

Meanwhile, the Giants are coming off three straight wins, including two against the National League East-leading Braves. The Giants were in Atlanta on Thursday, hoping to complete a three-game sweep, but that contest got postponed till August by a forecast of inclement weather.

Right-hander Landen Roupp, who was supposed to face Atlanta, will now start in Miami.

Roupp (5-7, 4.24 ERA) throws from a low slot and gets good horizontal movement.

The Giants are 5-9 this year when starting Roupp, who started this season 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA through April. However, his ERA has gone up each month as he's gone 0-4 with a 4.38 ERA in May and 0-2, 8.16 ERA in June (three starts so far).

Perhaps the Marlins will bring out the best in Roupp, since he is 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against Miami.

Overall, the Giants are a little salty at their record, which sits 12 games below .500. Willy Adames, who signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Giants in December 2024, is second on the team with 13 homers but his .708 OPS is 50 points lower than his career average.

Adames addressed the media after his Giants scored seven runs in each game against the Braves.

"If you look at our lineup, you know we're capable of doing that," Adames said. "It's funny when you see all the negative narratives out there. But we have dudes who have done it in the past, and we have young guys who are doing it, too."

The Giants would love Adames to return to the form he showed in 2024 and 2025. Over those two seasons, he averaged 31 homers and 99.5 RBIs.

--Field Level Media