Alejo López
López with the Louisville Bats in 2021
Atlanta Braves
Infielder
Born: (1996-05-05) May 5, 1996
Mexico City, Mexico
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 28, 2021, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.265
Home runs1
Runs batted in11
Teams

Jesús Alejo López (born May 5, 1996) is a Mexican professional baseball infielder in the Atlanta Braves organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds.

Amateur career

López attended Greenway High School in Phoenix, Arizona. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 27th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.[1]

Professional career

Cincinnati Reds

López made his professional debut that year with the Arizona League Reds, where he slashed a torrid .419/.526/.484. In 2016, López played for the rookie-level Billings Mustangs, posting a .273/.342/.327 slash line with one home run and 29 RBI. He returned to Billings for the 2017 season, and hit .300/.388/.455 with four home runs and 33 RBI.[2] For the 2018 season, López played for the Single-A Dayton Dragons, slashing .321/.375/.406 in 65 games. In 2019, he played for the High-A Daytona Tortugas and batted .287/.353/.347 with two home runs and fifty RBI.[3]

López did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] López began the started 2021 with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts before being promoted to the Triple-A Louisville Bats after hitting .362 in Chattanooga.[5]

On June 28, 2021, López was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time after hitting .358/.436/.526 with two home runs and 14 RBI in Louisville.[6] López made his Major League debut that day as a pinch hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. López faced relief pitcher Bailey Falter, where he connected on the first pitch he saw for a single. [7] López finished his rookie campaign with a .261/.261/.261 slash across 14 games.

López appeared in 59 games for Cincinnati in 2022. In 145 at-bats, he batted .262/.314/.331 with 1 home run and 10 RBI.

On February 8, 2023, López was designated for assignment by the Reds following the acquisition of Will Benson.[8] On February 14, López cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Louisville.[9] In 108 games for Triple–A Louisville, he batted .282/.390/.404 with 7 home runs, 38 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. On August 29, the Reds selected López's contract, adding him to the major league roster.[10] On August 31, López was once again designated for assignment by the Reds, without appearing in a game for the team.[11] He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Louisville on September 2.[12] On September 9, López was selected back to the major league roster as a COVID-19 replacement for Stuart Fairchild.[13] He served as the starting second baseman that day after Noelvi Marte suffered a pregame injury. In the contest against the St. Louis Cardinals, he went 1–for–2 with an RBI before being ejected for arguing a called third strike.[14] The next day, López was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Louisville.[15] On October 2, López elected free agency.[16]

Atlanta Braves

On October 7, 2023, Lopez signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves organization.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Gilbert, Jeff. "Infielder Lopez chasing baseball dream with Dayton Dragons". dayton-daily-news.
  2. ↑ "Alejo Lopez Minor & Winter Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com.
  3. ↑ Zach Dean. "After 5 years, Daytona Tortugas infielder Alejo Lopez finally an All-Star - Sports - Daytona Beach News-Journal Online - Daytona Beach, FL". News-journalonline.com. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  4. ↑ Jeff Todd (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Season Canceled". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Cincinnati Reds prospect Alejo Lopez dominating minor leagues". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  6. ↑ Steve Adams (June 28, 2021). "Reds DFA Scott Heineman, Promote Alejo Lopez". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Nick Castellanos hits grand slam in Reds' win". Mlb.com. June 29, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Reds' Alejo Lopez: Pushed off 40-man roster". cbssports.com. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Reds' Alejo Lopez: Outrighted to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Reds' Alejo Lopez: Selected to MLB roster". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Reds claim Harrison Bader, Hunter Renfroe off waivers". ESPN.com. August 31, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Reds' Alejo Lopez: Outrighted to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Reds' Alejo Lopez: Joins major-league squad". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Reds' Alejo Lopez: Starts for scratched Marte". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Reds' Alejo Lopez: Returns to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Alejo Lopez: Becomes free agent". cbssports.com. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  17. ↑ https://www.mlb.com/braves/roster/transactions
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