In his first full season in the big leagues, Nicky Lopez played sparingly but saw more time in the absences of Adalberto Mondesi who went down twice with a dislocated shoulder. Mondesi is expected to be ready by Opening Day next season but the Kansas City Royals could have quite the log-jam on the infield, especially with a new and improved Nicky Lopez.
Lopez, 24, will be starting his offseason diet and exercise program shortly with the hope that he can take a second-year leap similar to Whit Merrifield from 2016 to 2017.