Pedro Lopez is at the helm once again as the manager for the Albuquerque Isotopes 2024 season. Before he went off for Spring Training in Arizona, Lopez hosted a brunch where he expressed gratitude and explained what he wanted to achieve in the coming season.
The event took place on Feb. 17 at the clubhouse in Isotopes stadium where the guests were served a diner-style breakfast array of foods, all of which were made by the head chef of Isotopes park.
During the meeting, Lopez talked about the new and upcoming prospects that the Isotopes have on their hands going into this season, with high aspirations for Bradley Zimmer and infield players.
“Firstly we have to see what happens with (Alan) Treijo. If he doesn’t make a big league team we’ll definitely be seeing him here with us. Then there’s (Julio) Carreras that played with us the last month of last season. Then there’s (Aaron) Schunk and we have (Connor) Kaiser back,” Lopez said.
Lopez has his own lengthy history within the world of baseball, starting in 1988 he played in 13 seasons, going Triple-A on four occasions. He then would go on to coach and manage teams with the Texas Rangers and the New York Mets farm systems. He has an overall managerial record of 1047-1059, making the playoffs seven times, and winning the Double-A Eastern in 2014 with the Birmingham Mets.
This is the second season for Lopez as manager of the Isotopes, and his fourth within the organization starting back in 2021 as the hitting coach. Since then, Lopez says he’s grateful for the time and opportunities with the Isotopes, and this upcoming season, he wants to pay it back.
“I want to make better people. For me that’s number one, always. We want to make better ball players and have them make the big leagues, that’s for them, but for me I just want to help make better people. Spreading that message of compassion, understanding, kindness – and then to have that spread through baseball,” Lopez said. “I think knowing who you are and being a good human being will make anyone a better ball player. That’s my number one purpose here.”
At the end of last season, Lopez said he was happy they came close to making it to the playoffs, but wants to make it their goal for the season to make it this year. To do so, Lopez said he and his players needed to foster a solid mental state where there is no worry, no doubt and to leave the ‘ego’ at the door every time they step onto a field.
“The mind set is a fight. It’s got to be a fight, where there is no time for feeling sorry, no time for doubt and having all the time to have each other’s backs. And at the end of a long game, we can say, ‘we fought’ whether or not we lost. If we get 25 guys to go out everyday and fight, we’ll have each others backs, and we’ll get somewhere,” Lopez said.
Lopez and the Isotopes will go on to begin their Spring Training in Arizona and on March 29 will have their home opener.
BillyJack Davidson is a beat reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @BillyJackDL
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BillyJack Davidson is a beat reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached on Twitter @BillyJackDL
