MIAMI _ Danny Lopez may not have been at Truist Park on Wednesday, but Pablo Lopez felt his presence.
Pablo Lopez, an up-and-coming pitcher with the Miami Marlins, has always turned to his dad for advice during his career. The two played catch multiple times a week during the MLB's three-month shutdown.
That made this past week and a half that much tougher.
Lopez, 24, is still coping with his father's unexpected death from a couple weeks ago. Danny Lopez, a doctor who also played amateur baseball and instilled the loves of both his profession and his sport into his son, frequently attended his son's games at Marlins Park.
"He's always been my coach," Lopez said. "Every once and a while when we would play catch, I would ask him to make sure my rhythm was good when I was delivering a pitch.
"Last few weeks, last few days, they've been tough."
But that hasn't stopped Lopez from continuing his dominant run during this lead-up to the shortened 2020 regular season.
Lopez threw three solid innings Wednesday in the Marlins' 6-2 exhibition win against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park, which served as the team's final tune-up before Friday's season opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Lopez retired the first seven batters he faced and gave up just one hit _ a home run to Austin Riley _ and a walk while striking out three. Twenty-five of his 37 pitches were strikes.
"I feel pretty good," Lopez said. "Had pretty good rhythm and tempo. I made sure that if I needed to take a step back every once in a while to take it"
Lopez posted a heartfelt tribute in Spanish on his Instagram account shortly after his dad's death, promising to "continue the legacy that you built in the wonderful and happy life that you lived, full of laughter and joy every day."
"Now," Lopez wrote in the post, "it is up to me to make sure that I make you proud."
Marlins manager Don Mattingly called his first simulated game during camp "the best I've ever seen Pablo look as far as being that aggressive guy." He followed that up on Thursday, only a few days after rejoining the team, by throwing six shutout innings with six strikeouts while only allowing two hits and one walk.
"Watching what he did (Thursday) and knowing what he's been through, watching the transformation of that, and him growing into a young man, there's no better feeling, as a coach, as a teammate," Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said. "What he's able to put together. ... What he's doing now has not come easy."
It continued on Wednesday. Lopez needed six pitches to retire the side in the first inning, getting Ronald Acuna Jr to pop out to first base, Ozzie Albies to fly out to left and Freddie Freeman to fly out to shallow center. He followed suit in the second, striking out Marcell Ozuna and Adam Duvall with a Matt Adams groundout sandwiched between. His run of success ended when Riley hit his one-out home run to straightaway center field in the third. Lopez finished the inning by striking out Austin Jackson, walking Acuna and forcing Albies to ground out into the shift.
"This guy is on the upward swing of things. I'm so proud of the work that he's put in," Stottlemyre said. " ... This is a changed man."
Lopez is slated to make his first start of the season on Monday, the Marlins' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles.
"My connection with my dad is the strongest when I'm at the field," Lopez said. "That's always what we did when I was growing up. ... I know he's supporting me. I know he's watching me. Every pitch, every bullpen, I know he'll be there making sure everything's going right."
