By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 26, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, April 25 -- Felipe Lopez came to the Washington Nationals as a shortstop. Over the winter, he moved to second base. When Cristian Guzman was injured on Opening Day, Lopez quickly moved back to shortstop.

In the meantime, he got hot offensively. After going 1 for 4 in Wednesday's 9-3 loss to Philadelphia, Lopez was 15 for 40 (.375) over the last nine games, raising his average from .240 to .300. But Lopez considers his most significant improvement over the past two years to be increased patience at the plate. His on-base percentage is .356, 22 points higher than his career average.

"I hit my pitch now, instead of free-swinging," he said. "It just made me come to my game, which is getting on base. A lot of young guys, you just go up there and hit home runs all the time. That's not the best way. You only hit a home run maybe two, three times a month. I can get on base every day to do my job."

Manager Manny Acta said he is "very pleased" with Lopez, but he knows there might be another shakeup coming next week, when Guzman comes back from a strained hamstring.

"I think he's going to do whatever we want him to do to help this club win," Acta said.

Lopez said he wasn't worried about moving back to second.

"When it happens, it's going to happen," he said. "I haven't thought about it."

The Nationals conclude this six-game road trip Thursday afternoon, after which they are scheduled to take the train home to Washington. But their stay will be brief -- three games against the New York Mets over the weekend -- and is indicative of this stretch, the most brutal all year. The Nationals begin a nine-game, 10-day trip Monday in San Diego, the conclusion of a stretch in which 21 of 28 games were scheduled for the road.

"We're going to be glad when this month is over," Acta said. "It's been a very tough month, not only what we had to go through the first week with the injuries and the weather and all that, but also we played some tough teams in our own division. Now we're going to . . . see some different faces."

Robert Fick was in the starting lineup for the fourth time Wednesday, getting a chance in left field. Acta's reason: Fick was 4 for 13 career against Philadelphia starter Jon Lieber. But he went 0 for 2 and is 3 for 22 (.136) this season.

Fick, who hasn't been a full-time player since 2003 with Atlanta, said he is accustomed to such spot situations.

"I just stay ready," he said. "I used to complain about not playing, and it used to stop me from staying ready."