New Marlins reliever Jorge Lopez’s main source of motivation? His son. ‘He’s my life’

The Miami Marlins’ just-completed trip to Cincinnati for a three-game series against the Reds was an emotional one for relief pitcher Jorge Lopez.

Any time he has a chance to reunite with his son is a happy occasion.

Lopez’s son Mikael, a happy-go-lucky 10-year-old, has gone through more than most could imagine. He was born with two autoimmune diseases — familial Mediterranean fever and Crohn’s disease — that caused fever, chest pain and chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Mikael spent most of his life in and out of children’s hospitals, first in Lopez’s native Puerto Rico, then Miami and finally Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Through it all, Lopez said, Mikael has remained upbeat.

It puts what Lopez does into perspective.

He wants to succeed for his son. And if he ever does struggle, he thinks about Mikael.

“He’s my life,” Lopez said. “That’s my motivation every day.”

Lopez, who the Marlins acquired from the Minnesota Twins on July 26, is a year removed from his best season as a big leaguer, when he pitched to a 2.54 ERA and made 23 saves over 67 total games, first for the Baltimore Orioles and then for the Twins after being traded midseason after being named an All-Star.

The right-handed pitcher has a five-pitch mix, throwing a sinker and a four-seam fastball that both average in the upper-90s along with an upper-80s slider and low 80s curveball that induce swing-and-miss swings as well as a mid-80s changeup.

He is part of the Marlins’ rotation of high-leverage relievers, along with lefties Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk and Andrew Nardi as well as righties David Robertson and Huascar Brazoban.

“Lopez is a power arm,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “He’s got real stuff. We saw a few things that could really help him out, and we’ll see what happens. But the sinker/slider combo with the changeup is real. I feel like the velocity can really play, especially late in the season, and hopefully we get to the postseason, it can really play.”

Inside the clubhouse as he gets acclimated with his new teammates, Lopez has been quiet and humble. He main focus has been “just being transparent, trying to know each other, trying to know how things work.”

“I’m just going day by day and trusting what I can do,” Lopez said. “Leave everything in God’s hands and just come here and do my best.”

His first thoughts on his new team when he arrived in Miami?

“It’s a family,” Lopez said. “In the clubhouse, everyone’s a family.”

Family is important to Lopez, especially as he balances his job as a big-league pitcher and being a father to Mikael.

Mikael was born when Lopez was 20 years old, pitching in Single A in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He was diagnosed with his two autoimmune conditions a year later. Early on, Lopez said it was “really hard to figure out” Mikael’s condition.

While Lopez continued his career in the big leagues, which has featured stops in Milwaukee (2015; 2017-2018), Kansas City (2018-2020), Baltimore (2020-2022) and Minnesota (2022-2023), his wife Karla and Mikael moved to Cincinnati full-time. Maikel received a bone marrow transplant in July 2021 and Lopez said his son was “rejuvenated” shortly afterward.

Last year, when Lopez was with the Orioles, Mikael’s recovery got to the point where he was cleared to travel to Boston watch his dad pitch in a series between the Orioles and the Red Sox. Lopez pitched twice in that series, including recording a save on Mikael’s ninth birthday.

“He’s getting better every single day,” Lopez said. “He’s going to school, really independent. Strong kid. Strong kid. I know he’s going to live a long life, a healthy life as much as he can.”

Lopez FaceTimes with his son daily but doesn’t get to see him in person regularly during the season. Prior to the Marlins’ series in Cincinnati, a three-game set in which Miami took two of three against the Reds, the last time Lopez and Mikael were together in person was on Mikael’s 10th birthday in May.

Lopez doesn’t take his position — as a father first, a pitcher second — for granted.

“I try to do as best as I can as a father,” Lopez said. “That’s my goal.”