Astros first base coach Lopez on selection as Team Venezuela skipper: 'This is the most relevant, most important role as a manager'

Houston Astros first base coach Omar Lopez has been tabbed to manage the Venezuela’s national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), per a press release.

The Astros said that Lopez, who hails from Valencia, Venezuela, has previous WBC experience under his belt as his native country’s quality control coach in the international baseball tournament more than half a decade ago. 

“Congratulations to Omar Lopez who was named manager for Team Venezuela,” the Astros said in a tweet.

According to the Astros, Lopez has been with the franchise for 24 seasons, a stretch that includes a stint as skipper with Double-A Corpus Christi in 2018 and 2019 and a similar position with Quad Cities earlier last decade.

In all, the release said, Lopez has managed in the Astros farm system for a dozen of seasons from 2008-2019 before joining the Major League coaching staff in 2020.

The website Our Esquina reported that Lopez was emotional when he learned about the selection, which he considers a dream come true.

“For me, for Omar Lopez, this is the most relevant, most important role as a manager,” he told the sports website in Spanish.

Team Venezuela general manager Luis Blasini pointed to Lopez’s successful track record in Houston as a factor in naming the latter as the South American nation’s newest skipper, Our Esquina reported.

According to the Astros’ release, Lopez toiled as a full-time scout and a hitting and infield instructor for the team in Venezuela from 1999-2007.

He was one of several who urged the Astros to sign a short-statured 16-year-old prospect by the name of Jose Altuve, the release said.

Altuve, the team's starting second baseman, has been the face of the Astros since his professional debut in 2011.