Felipe Lopez is a talented kid who's been jerked around his entire career, if not his entire life. According to the Slam Sports story (listed below), Lopez had an attitude and it didn't sit well with the Jays' fans, so they were willing to give up on him when he was just 22. I won't fault them for that because 1) chemistry is important and if it wasn't there, it wasn't there, and 2) a good, solid trading can do wonders for a crappy attitude. Though it was probably a blow to his pride, the trade really also benefited Lopez, who came to a team that already contained Jose Guillen, a guy whose attitude problem so outshone any other sullenness that Lopez could easily blend in with the crowd.

I think that Larkin may have been beneficial to Lopez's game and self-confidence, but that ultimately Larkin set Lopez up to fail. It is my opinion that Larkin was so desperate to have a say in his own legacy that he was willing to proclaim Lopez to be the imminent shortstop of the future even though Lopez really-and-truly was not ready. If I had been told by one of the greats that I was next-in-line to be great myself, I too might have displayed the overdeveloped sense of entitlement that we saw from Lopez at the beginning of this season.

Going into this season, I agreed with the decision to start Aurilia at short over Lopez. It wasn't about Aurilia; it was about Lopez. I don't know what the spring training statistics said, but I do know what I saw first-hand while I was there: the sneering mug of an impetuous little punk who needed a chance to grow up before he could reliably take the field full-time.

But, as life-changing attitude adjustments often do, that changed very suddenly at the beginning of May. You could see the change in a quote buried in a story in the Cincinnati Post (Reds Might See New Faces, May 5, 2005): “I'm over that stage of trying to show them what I can do, because I'm sure they know by now,” said Lopez. “Every time they give me the opportunity, I just try to do something to win.”

To me, that said a lot. It said that this incredibly capable guy who'd be pressing, struggling his whole career to grab the good things to which he felt he was entitled had finally decided to just be who he is and let good things come to him. It's an easy lesson to talk about, but even if you've seen it in action, “letting good things happen” is remarkably difficult to live out.

I know I must come off as anti-Lopez sometimes, but I truly am happy to see some of those good things finally coming his way. When he drops that sneer, Lopez has a sweet, genuine smile that just warms my heart. He really can be great, and he does deserve it.

Hours of Internet research yielded exactly one paragraph of non-baseball information about Felipe Lopez. Quite a shock after the yards of information I came up with for my last profile, Sean Casey. Should anyone reading out there have additional information about Lopez off the field, please share!

Felipe Lopez was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on May 12, 1980. He moved to Altamonte Springs, Florida where he graduated from Lake Brantley High School in 1998 and still resides today. As a senior in high school, he was Florida’s Player of the Year, a USA Today All-USA selection, and was rated by Baseball America as the best defensive high school shortstop in the country. He’s married to a woman named Jennifer (figures) and they have a 4-year old daughter named Chaydin.

Hours of Internet research yielded exactly one paragraph of non-baseball information about Felipe Lopez. Quite a shock after the yards of information I came up with for my last profile, Sean Casey. Should anyone reading out there have additional information about Lopez off the field, please share!

Felipe Lopez was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico on May 12, 1980. He moved to Altamonte Springs, Florida where he graduated from Lake Brantley High School in 1998 and still resides today. As a senior in high school, he was Florida's Player of the Year, a USA Today All-USA selection, and was rated by Baseball America as the best defensive high school shortstop in the country. He's married to a woman named Jennifer (figures) and they have a 4-year old daughter named Chaydin.

Felipe Lopez plays at the Reds’ middle infield. He joined the Reds in 2003 from the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a 4-way trade that sent Elmer Dessens to Arizona. Despite the fact that Lopez played only 79 games the at the major-league level during 2004, he was proclaimed to be the heir to the shortstop throne by 19-year veteran Barry Larkin.

Despite the proclamation, Lopez was expected to compete for (and win) the starting shortstop job against Anderson Machado out of spring training this year. A knee injury in the off-season took Machado out of the picture, but the club still came up with someone for Lopez to compete against by signing veteran Rich Aurilia to a minor league contract. Aurilia won the starting job out of spring training, leaving Lopez with spot starts at short and second. Now that Aurilia is on the DL, Lopez is seeing a lot more time on the field.

Lopez has good range in the infield. He can wow the crowd with shockingly good stops to make fantastic plays. On the routine plays, though, he can just as easily wildly over-throw first base. Basically it looks like Lopez is a defensive stud so long as there isn’t time for his brain to get in the way.

At the plate, Lopez provides more power than you’d think he would. Compared to the rest of the Reds’ line-up this season, Lopez is looking particularly hot at the plate, but that’s hardly a fair comparison. On the basepaths, Lopez brings better speed than instincts, but again, compared to the rest of the Reds’ line-up, he looks pretty good.

Felipe Lopez plays at the Reds' middle infield. He joined the Reds in 2003 from the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a 4-way trade that sent Elmer Dessens to Arizona. Despite the fact that Lopez played only 79 games the at the major-league level during 2004, he was proclaimed to be the heir to the shortstop throne by 19-year veteran Barry Larkin.

Despite the proclamation, Lopez was expected to compete for (and win) the starting shortstop job against Anderson Machado out of spring training this year. A knee injury in the off-season took Machado out of the picture, but the club still came up with someone for Lopez to compete against by signing veteran Rich Aurilia to a minor league contract. Aurilia won the starting job out of spring training, leaving Lopez with spot starts at short and second. Now that Aurilia is on the DL, Lopez is seeing a lot more time on the field.

Lopez has good range in the infield. He can wow the crowd with shockingly good stops to make fantastic plays. On the routine plays, though, he can just as easily wildly over-throw first base. Basically it looks like Lopez is a defensive stud so long as there isn't time for his brain to get in the way.

At the plate, Lopez provides more power than you'd think he would. Compared to the rest of the Reds' line-up this season, Lopez is looking particularly hot at the plate, but that's hardly a fair comparison. On the basepaths, Lopez brings better speed than instincts, but again, compared to the rest of the Reds' line-up, he looks pretty good.