Lopez is Nationals' leading man

WASHINGTON — Felipe Lopez’s first steps out of the batter’s box were a hop, then a skip. The short pause between the two was to make sure that the baseball actually made it over the right field wall.

“Coming from RFK [Stadium] last year I was, like, wait,” Lopez said.

When his sixth-inning grand slam — the first in the history of Nationals Park and Lopez’s first home run of the season — plopped safely out of Mets outfielder Ryan Church’s reach on Thursday night, Washington’s leadoff hitter clapped his hands together in an undisguised gesture of true emotion that revealed as much about the moment as it did about the pure joy that Lopez is playing with this season.

“I’m me again,” he said.

As he rounded the bases and the adoring praise from more than 29,000 fans reached his ears, Lopez indeed felt like an all-star again. He’s playing like one, too.

After losing a spring training battle with Ronnie Belliard for a starting position at second base and accepting an unfamiliar role as a reserve, Lopez has emerged as a potential spark that could awaken the Nationals’ offense from a month-long funk.

“I think I can. I’m the type of player who can steal bases and put pressure on the other team,” Lopez said. “I feel real comfortable in the leadoff spot. I think I can help the team there.”

No longer burdened by the private, off-the-field issues that seemed to distract him from baseball last summer, Lopez has embraced his status as a utility player and reinvented himself in the process.

“I just stayed positive and worked hard,” said Lopez, who has made starts at second base, shortstop and left field. “It wasn’t about missing my moment. It was about being ready for whatever.

“What matters to me now is helping this team turn it around,” he said. “I don’t care where I play as long as we win. At the end of the day, it’s the W that I care about.”

Winning has always been important to Lopez. He has occasionally bristled at the Nationals’ mediocre play and wasn’t initially thrilled at the notion of switching to second base last season when shortstop Cristian Guzman came back from shoulder surgery. But there is no hint of selfishness in his voice or mannerisms now.

“It was a good opportunity for him to go back out there and show the world what he can do,” Nationals manager Manny Acta said. “He’s shown that he’s a very good player. He came out in Spring Training and competed and he didn’t get the job but still went out there and helped us. He’s willing to play hard wherever we play him.

“He could have just put his head down and struggled again. But he worked hard and had a good attitude,” Acta said. “I told him from the get-go, it’s a long season and it doesn’t mean he can’t work himself back into the lineup.”

And that is exactly what happened. Lopez filled in admirably in left field — a position he’d never played — until Wily Mo Pena returned from a pulled chest muscle and when Belliard went into an extended slump — hitting .214 in 18 games — the former Reds’ all-star moved back to second base.

“Felipe can be a 20-homer, 40-stolen base guy,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “He’s kind of turned that corner from last year and he’s ready to have another good year.”

Lopez has always believed he could be the type of player who can start a rally. On Thursday against the Mets, he finished one instead — sending a 3-2 changeup from reliever Aaron Heilman out of the park for a two-out, tie-breaking grand slam. He wound up equaling a career-high with six RBI — becoming the only player in the last 50 years to accomplish that feat three times out of the leadoff spot.

“It’s always good to have people on your side but at the end of the day you have to believe in yourself,” said Lopez, who was acquired, along with outfielder Austin Kearns and reliever Ryan Wagner, from the Reds during the 2006 season in exchange for several players, including relievers Gary Majewski and Bill Bray.

“You can have the whole world believe in you but if you don’t believe in yourself it doesn’t mat-ter,” he said. “I believe in my abilities.”