Rockies Sign Nicky Lopez, John Brebbia To Minor League Deals
The Rockies have signed infielder Nicky Lopez and right-hander John Brebbia to minor league deals, reports Kevin Henry of the Denver Gazette. Both players will receive invites to big league spring training. Lopez is represented by CAA and Brebbia by Icon Sports Management.
Lopez, 31 in March, has largely been a glove-first infielder in his career. He did have a nice .300/.365/.378 showing in 2021 but that seems to have been fuelled by a .347 batting average on balls in play, far higher than any other season he has played. In his career, he has stepped to the plate 2,374 times with just seven home runs. His 14.3% strikeout rate is quite low but his 7.6% walk rate is subpar. Put it all together and he has a .245/.310/.311 line and 73 wRC+, indicating he’s been 27% below league average at the plate.
Despite the lack of punch with the bat, Lopez has been able to carve out big league playing time on the strength of his defense. He has experience at all four infield spots and in left field. Reviews on his shortstop defense are mixed. He’s been credited with -11 Defensive Runs Saved at that spot, although a lot of that comes from a -9 in just 344 2/3 innings with the White Sox in 2024. Outs Above Average, meanwhile, has ranked him as 33 runs better than par at short. Both metrics give him positive reviews at the other positions he’s played.
Lopez got pushed to a fringe roster player in 2025. He got close to everyday playing time from 2019 to 2024 but he only got into 19 games and received 28 plate appearances this year. He had brief stints with the Angels and Cubs early in the year, then was stuck in the minors for the final few months of the season, bouncing to the Diamondbacks, Yankees and Cubs again.
The Rockies have plenty of uncertainty on their roster. They just lost 119 games and are retooling the organization. On the infield, Ezequiel Tovar is locked in at short but the other positions are up for grabs. Tyler Freeman, Kyle Karros, Troy Johnston, Adael Amador, Warming Bernabel, Ryan Ritter and Blaine Crim are all on the roster but Freeman is the only guy in that group with more than 60 games in the big leagues. Freeman can also play the outfield and might end up there, depending on what other moves the Rockies make.
In short, there’s lots of room for a veteran infielder. The Rockies had guys like Orlando Arcia, Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer on the roster in 2025 as veteran utility types but they’re all free agents now. If Lopez eventually cracks the roster, he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent as a guy with at least five years of big league service time.
As for Brebbia, he’s a buy-low move for the Rockies. He had a strong run from 2017 to 2023, tossing 299 2/3 innings for the Cardinals and Giants, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. His 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate over that span were both better than league average. He got enough leverage work to earn two saves and 47 holds in those seasons.
The past two years haven’t been as smooth, however. He signed a one-year, $5.5MM deal with the White Sox going into 2024. Between Chicago and a brief appearance with Atlanta late in the year, he had a 5.86 ERA. However, his 27.7% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate were still strong. His ERA spike seemed to be connected to a career-high 11 home runs allowed.
The Tigers signed him to a one-year, $2.75MM deal going into 2025, hoping for a bounceback. They didn’t get it. He struggled and was designated for assignment in June. Like the year before, he was briefly scooped up by Atlanta. He finished the year with a 7.71 ERA over 22 appearances. His 22.6% strikeout rate was around average but his 10.4% walk rate was subpar. His home run woes continued, as he allowed five in less than half as many innings pitched as in the year prior.
The Rockies had a collective 5.99 ERA in 2025, the worst such mark in the majors. They have very few experienced pitchers on the roster. Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela are the only two with more than five years of service time. Neither has been especially effective in recent years. If they get back on track in 2026, they will likely be traded since both are only signed through 2026, with contract options for 2027.
Brebbia is turning 36 in May and spent part of 2025 on the injured list due to a triceps strain. Maybe the odds of a bounceback aren’t great, particularly if he ends up pitching in Coors, but the Rockies need pitching more than any other club and will likely take a number of fliers on pitchers like this. They recently signed Parker Mushinski to a minor league deal and will certainly ink a few more deals of this type.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
Players Entering Minor League Free Agency
Major League free agents became eligible to sign with other teams on Thursday, but the minor league free agent market has technically been open since season’s end. MLBTR has published several posts detailing players who had already elected to become minor free agents, but Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (multiple links) has the full account of all the minor league free agents that officially joined their big league counterparts on the open market on Thursday.
This list details only players who have played in the Major Leagues, and whose minor league free agency hasn’t already been covered on MLBTR in the last month.
Athletics: Aaron Brooks, Carlos Duran, CD Pelham, Bryan Lavastida, Nick Martini, Alejo Lopez
Braves: Ian Anderson, Davis Daniel, Enoli Paredes, Amos Willingham, Brian Moran, Jonathan Ornelas, Chandler Seagle, Matthew Batten, Conner Capel
Orioles: Jakson Reetz, Livan Soto, Thaddeus Ward
Red Sox: John Brebbia, Isaiah Campbell, Mark Kolozsvary, Chadwick Tromp, Seby Zavala, Trayce Thompson
Cubs: Yency Almonte, Zach Pop, Caleb Kilian, Austin Gomber, Forrest Wall, Billy Hamilton, Joe Ross, Tommy Romero, Antonio Santos, Tom Cosgrove, Dixon Machado, Nicky Lopez, Carlos Perez
White Sox: Elvis Peguero, Kyle Tyler, Vinny Capra, Chris Rodriguez, Caleb Freeman, Joe Perez, Owen White, Andre Lipcius
Reds: Tejay Antone, Alan Busenitz, Buck Farmer, Josh Staumont, P.J. Higgins, Eric Yang, Levi Jordan, Edwin Rios, Davis Wendzel, Evan Kravetz, Adam Plutko, Charlie Barnes, Alex Young
Guardians: Riley Pint, Tyler Naquin, Parker Mushinski
Rockies: Xzavion Curry, Sean Bouchard, Owen Miller, Karl Kauffmann,
Tigers: Kevin Newman, Brian Serven, Jordan Balazovic, Nick Margevicius, Blair Calvo
Astros: Jon Singleton, Joe Hudson, Kenedy Corona, Greg Jones, Matt Bowman, Luis Contreras, Tyler Ivey, John Rooney
Royals: John Gant, Spencer Turnbull, Bobby Dalbec, Diego Castillo, Geoff Hartlieb, Jordan Groshans, Nick Pratto, Isan Diaz, Stephen Nogosek, Nick Robertson, Joey Krehbiel, Noah Murdock, Ryan Hendrix
Angels: Shaun Anderson, Brandon Drury, Yolmer Sanchez, Ben Gamel, Evan White, Cavan Biggio, Logan Davidson, Travis Blankenhorn, Oscar Colas, Kelvin Caceres, Dakota Hudson, Chad Stevens, Angel Felipe, Jordan Holloway, Victor Gonzalez
Dodgers: Michael Grove, Luken Baker, Giovanny Gallegos, Kyle Funkhouser, Chris Okey, CJ Alexander, Zach Penrod
Marlins: Jack Winkler, Lane Ramsey
Brewers: Luis Urias, Oliver Dunn, Julian Merryweather, Daz Cameron, Drew Avans, Josh Maciejewski, Jared Oliva
Twins: Jose Miranda, Anthony Misiewicz, Jonah Bride, Thomas Hatch, Daniel Duarte, Connor Gillispie
Mets: Joey Meneses, Jose Azocar, Joe La Sorsa, Gilberto Celestino, Ty Adcock, Bryce Montes de Oca, Yacksel Rios, Oliver Ortega, Luis De Los Santos
Yankees: Kenta Maeda, Jeimer Candelario, Rob Brantly, Andrew Velazquez, Jose Rojas, Joel Kuhnel, Wilking Rodriguez
Phillies: Matt Manning, Adonis Medina, Lucas Sims, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Bickford, Rodolfo Castro, Oscar Mercado, Brewer Hicklen, Christian Arroyo, Payton Henry
Pirates: Brett Sullivan, Nick Solak, Nelson Velazquez, Beau Burrows, Ryder Ryan
Cardinals: Zach Plesac, Anthony Veneziano, Tyler Matzek, Zack Weiss, Drew Rom, Aaron Wilkerson
Padres: Eguy Rosario, Tim Locastro, Reiss Knehr, Nate Mondou
Giants: Sean Hjelle, Miguel Diaz, Max Stassi, Sam Huff, Cole Waites, Drew Ellis, Ethan Small
Mariners: Michael Fulmer, Casey Lawrence, Collin Snider, Jesse Hahn, Nick Anderson, Josh Fleming, Austin Shenton, Jacob Nottingham, Beau Taylor, Cade Marlowe, Jack Lopez, Michael Mariot, Hagen Danner
Rays: Cooper Hummel, Jonathan Hernandez, Jamie Westbrook, Tres Barrera
Rangers: Omar Narvaez, Cal Quantrill, Ty Blach, Alan Trejo, Joe Barlow, Cory Abbott, Michael Plassmeyer, Alex De Goti
Blue Jays: Eloy Jimenez, Buddy Kennedy, Joe Mantiply, Elieser Hernandez, Rene Pinto, Adam Kloffenstein
Nationals: Francisco Mejia, Juan Yepez, Joan Adon, CJ Stubbs, Parker Dunshee, Erick Mejia, Adrian Sampson, Delino DeShields
Cubs, Nicky Lopez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Cubs and veteran infielder Nicky Lopez agreed to a minor league contract over the weekend, as first indicated on the MiLB.com transaction log. Lopez opted out of a minor league deal with the Yankees last week and quickly returned for what’s now a third stint with the Cubs organization this season alone. Lopez was already back in the lineup with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate yesterday.
Lopez signed a minor league deal with Chicago back in February. He didn’t make the big league roster in camp and took an opt-out in his deal, after which he signed a major league pact with the Angels. That proved to be a short-lived stint, with Lopez lasting only five games before being cut loose. After clearing waivers, Lopez signed a major league deal with the Cubs and appeared in 14 games off the bench before being designated for assignment again. He’s since signed minor league deals with the D-backs and Yankees but opted out of both.
It’s been a dizzying season, transaction-wise, for the versatile Lopez. He’s signed contracts with four different organizations but tallied only 19 games and 28 plate appearances in the majors. Lopez has gone just 1-for-24 with four walks (and only three strikeouts) in that tiny sample of sparse playing time. His Triple-A work between the Cubs, D-backs and Yankees has (of course) been better than that — but still not great. In 42 games, he’s taken 178 turns at the plate and batted .259/.309/.315.
Lopez has rarely provided much help with the bat, however. He’s the consummate glove-first utility infielder. While he did post an out-of-the-blue .300/.365/.378 performance in 565 plate appearances with the 2021 Royals, Lopez has limped to a .229/.300/.283 big league batting line in parts of four subsequent seasons and carries a modest .245/.310/.311 line in 2374 plate appearances as a major leaguer.
Though he’s lacking at the plate, Lopez is a roughly average runner with a plus glove all around the infield. He’s spent more than 2300 innings at both middle infield positions and drawn high-end grades from Statcast at each position. Defensive Runs Saved isn’t as keen on his work at shortstop but grades him as an elite second baseman. Lopez hasn’t spent as much time at the hot corner (433 innings), but both Statcast’s Outs Above Average (9) and DRS (6) feel he’s been outstanding there.
The Cubs’ needs in the infield don’t look as pressing after Willi Castro was added at the deadline and now that top prospect Matt Shaw has caught fire (.328/.349/.770, seven homers in 63 plate appearances post-All-Star break). But Lopez offers some versatility and depth at multiple positions, and he could be an option to join the club when rosters expand to 28 in September, providing skipper Craig Counsell with some late-game options in terms of both pinch-running and defensive shuffling.
Nicky Lopez Opts Out Of Minor League Deal With Yankees
Infielder Nicky Lopez has opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees and is now a free agent, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided yesterday. Lopez had signed with the organization early last month.
The 30-year-old was a fifth-round pick by the Royals back in 2016 and made his MLB debut during the 2019 season. He was a light-hitting middle infielder for his first two seasons in Kansas City, with an atrocious .228/.279/.307 (55 wRC+) line in 159 games across those two seasons. While he was roughly a replacement level player overall in those two seasons, he broke out in a big way during the 2021 season. That year, he slashed .300/.365/.378 with a wRC+ of 104, and combined that roughly average slash line with elite defense at shortstop and 22 stolen bases to put together a 5.5 fWAR season.
That version of Lopez from 2022 looked like a potential All-Star, but his .347 BABIP that year proved to be unsustainable. He dropped back down to a wRC+ of 55 in 2022, and while his strong defense and baserunning allowed him to remain better than replacement level he hasn’t fared quite that well in the years since. He bounced between Kansas City, Atlanta, and the south side of Chicago in 2023 and ’24, slashing a modestly improved .238/.317/.299 (77 wRC+) with a high-contact approach (15.1% strikeout rate) but still failed to hit for enough power or post a high enough BABIP to offer even average offensive production.
After demonstrating declining speed and defense as he entered his late 20s, Lopez has struggled to hold down a big league job in his age-30 campaign. He’s bounced between the Cubs, Angels, Diamondbacks, and Yankees organizations throughout the year but has made it into just 19 big league games with Chicago and Anaheim. In 28 plate appearances in the majors this year, he’s gone just 1-for-24 with four walks and four strikeouts. His numbers at Triple-A for Arizona and New York’s affiliates, meanwhile, have been better but still lackluster as he’s slashed .266/.316/.323 with an 11.5% strikeout rate.
No one should be signing Lopez for his offense, but he still provides above-average defense and can be a decent contact-oriented pinch hitter. That’s enough to be a potentially useful bench piece, and with the trade deadline having come and gone it seems likely some team will sign Lopez as a depth option in the coming days. He’ll likely be limited to minor league offers, but it’s possible a team with a particularly thin infield mix could look to add him to their bench immediately in order to shore up their roster for the stretch run. The Yankees, for their part, have much less of a need for that sort of infield depth after the club picked up Ryan McMahon, Amed Rosario, and Jose Caballero to transform their bench mix ahead of the deadline earlier this week. Jorbit Vivas and Braden Shewmake remain on the 40-man roster as potential depth options, as well.
Yankees To Sign Nicky Lopez To Minor League Deal
The Yankees are signing infielder Nicky Lopez to a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Lopez will presumably report to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the coming days.
Lopez, 30, has been a major league regular for a few years now. However, he has bounced around in 2025, hitting the fringes of various rosters. He started the year with the Cubs on a minor league deal but opted out when he didn’t break camp. That led to a big league deal with the Angels, though he was designated for assignment three weeks into the season. He was then signed by the Cubs, this time to a big league deal, though he was designated for assignment a month later. He then landed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks but opted out of that deal a few days ago.
He has an awful .042/.179/.042 slash line in the majors this year, though in just 28 scattered plate appearances. He hit .267/.303/.317 on that minor league deal with the Snakes more recently, though that only translated to a wRC+ of 46 in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.
In his big league career, he has generally been a glove-first player. He had a strong .300/.365/.378 showing in 2021 but that now looks like a clear outlier. Since then, in over 1200 plate appearances, he has a .229/.300/.283 line. On defense, he has extensive experience in the middle infield, with plenty of time at third base as well. He’s also made brief appearances at first base, left field and even on the mound.
The Yankees aren’t getting much out of their second base position, with DJ LeMahieu not having a great season. They seem likely to pursue a third base upgrade at the deadline, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. then being moved to second base, pushing LeMahieu into a bench role. For now, Lopez gives them some veteran non-roster depth.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
Nicky Lopez Opts Out Of Diamondbacks Deal
Veteran infielder Nicky Lopez triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the D-backs, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Teams typically have 48 hours to decide whether to add a player to the 40-man roster or grant him his release when the player triggers an out clause, but Murray adds that Lopez will hit the open market, so it seems Arizona has already made up its mind.
The 30-year-old Lopez hit just .267/.303/.317 through 109 turns at the plate in a supercharged offensive environment with Arizona’s Triple-A Reno affiliate. He continued showing strong contact skills, fanning in only 8.3% of his plate appearances, but Lopez showed no real power and walked at only a 4.6% clip. He went 1-for-24 in 19 games between the Cubs and Angels earlier this year while receiving sparse playing time as a glove-first option off the bench.
Lopez is a defensive-minded utility infielder who can handle either middle infield spot or third base. He’s made a few brief cameos in left field as well but has just 17 major league innings at the position. Back in 2021, he posted an out-of-nowhere .300/.365/.378 batting line with 22 steals (in 23 tries) and plus-plus defense at shortstop. Baseball-Reference valued that season at 4.4 wins above replacement, and FanGraphs credited him with an even gaudier 5.5 WAR. Since that time, Lopez has proven 2021’s offensive output to be an outlier; he’s slashed only .229/.300/.283 in 1215 subsequent plate appearances.
Diamondbacks Sign Nicky Lopez To Minor League Deal
The Diamondbacks have signed infielder Nicky Lopez to a minor league deal, per Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports. The veteran has been assigned to the Triple-A Reno Aces and should join that club in the coming days.
Lopez, 30, has been fairly nomadic this year. He signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in February but then opted out when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. He signed a big league deal with the Angels but was designated for assignment about three weeks into the season. He elected free agency and returned to the Cubs on a major league deal. He lasted about a month on that roster before getting another DFA and heading to the open market yet again, which allowed him to sign this deal with Arizona.
Around those transactions, he has a .042/.179/.042 line in 28 plate appearances this year. For his career, his offense has been better than that but still below league average. He has a .245/.310/.311 line and 72 wRC+ in 2,374 plate appearances on the whole.
Though he lacks punch at the plate, Lopez can provide value with his glove. He has over 2,000 career innings at both middle infield positions. Defensive Runs Saved considered him good at short until souring on him recently. Outs Above Average is still a fan, giving Lopez a +33 in his career, though a lot of that is an outlier +25 in 2021. Both metrics consider him solidly above average at the keystone. He’s also spent time at the infield corners and in left field.
The Diamondbacks have a fairly crowded infield mix at present. Josh Naylor, Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo and Eugenio Suárez are getting regular playing time from right to left, with Jordan Lawlar and Tim Tawa mixing in as well. Pavin Smith and Randal Grichuk are platooning in the designated hitter spot most of the time.
But as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. The Snakes also just lost a different veteran infielder as Ildemaro Vargas opted out of his minor league deal this week, so Lopez will effectively replace Vargas as the club’s veteran non-roster infielder.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
Nicky Lopez Elects Free Agency
Infielder Nicky Lopez went unclaimed on outright waivers after being designated for assignment by the Cubs, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Chicago sent him outright to Triple-A Iowa, but Lopez has instead elected free agency. He can now sign with any team.
The 30-year-old Lopez is a versatile, glove-first utility player who’s seen considerable time at shortstop, second base and third base in his professional career. He grades as a plus defender at second base and third base, in particular, and is a roughly average runner by measure of Statcast’s sprint speed metric.
Lopez had a nice season at the plate with the 2021 Royals when he hit .300/.365/.378 in 565 plate appearances, but that’s been a clear outlier in an otherwise lackluster career with the bat. Since that time, the 2016 fifth-rounder (Royals) has mustered a meager .229/.300/.283 batting line (66 wRC+, or 34% worse than league-average offensive output). He’s played a combined 19 games between the Cubs and Angels this season but produced just one hit in 24 at-bats. He’s only struck out four times and has also drawn four walks.
Lopez isn’t going to return to that 2021 peak, but he can plausibly be expected to provide more with the bat than he’s managed in 2025’s small sample thus far. A team looking for some depth at any of the three infield positions left of first base — particularly some defensive-minded help — figures to give him a look before long.
The Cubs scooped him up on a major league deal and plugged him right onto the big league roster last time he was a free agent. It’s possible another team will do the same in the coming days, but signed a minor league deal in the offseason and could need to bide his time in Triple-A with whatever club takes a flier on him next. In 91 career games at the top minor league level, he’s a .304/.399/.444 hitter with more walks (50) than strikeouts (35) through 407 plate appearances.
Cubs Designate Nicky Lopez For Assignment
Infielder Nicky Lopez has been designated for assignment by the Cubs, reports Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. That was the expected corresponding move when it was reported earlier that Matt Shaw was coming back up to the big leagues. The Cubs’ 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Lopez, 30, has been bouncing in and out of the Cubs’ plans this year. He signed a minor league deal with them in the winter but opted out of that deal when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. He then signed a big league deal with the Angels but was released by that club after a bit less than a month on the roster. At that time, Shaw had just been optioned to the minors after a sluggish start to the season, so the Cubs brought Lopez back and gave him a big league deal.
He didn’t get too much out of the opportunity, mostly getting plugged in as a defensive specialist. In almost a month with the Cubs, he got into 19 games but stepped to the plate just 28 times. He only hit .042/.179/.042 in those.
That’s a bit of an extreme microcosm of his whole career, as he has generally been a glove-first infielder. In 2,374 plate appearances, he has a .245/.310/.311 batting line and 72 wRC+. But he has generally received strong grades for his infield defense. He has spent most of his time at the middle infield positions but also has logged some work in the corners and in left field.
With Shaw coming back up, Lopez has been nudged from rarely-used bench piece into DFA limbo. He is likely to end up on waivers in the coming days. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so he might be on the open market soon. He could perhaps garner interest from clubs looking for a bench infielder who’s good with the leather.
Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images
Cubs Expected To Recall Matt Shaw
The Cubs opened the 2024 season with top prospect Matt Shaw in their lineup, hoping he could immediately step up and seize the everyday job at third base. The former first-round pick struggled in 18 games before being optioned to Triple-A, but it seems like he’s set to rejoin the roster after an impressive run in Des Moines. Cubs skipper Craig Counsell told the team’s beat yesterday that another promotion for Shaw was “under consideration” (link via Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic). Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports this morning that Shaw is indeed expected to join the roster today — likely at the expense of veteran infielder Nicky Lopez, whom Chicago will try to trade (presumably after a DFA). Lopez did not travel to Miami with the Cubs for their upcoming series against the Marlins, Heyman adds.
Shaw, 23, hit just .172/.294/.241 in 68 plate appearances during his trial run to open the season. He walked an impressive 10 times in that small sample (14.7%) but also fanned on 18 occasions (26.5%). His batted-ball metrics were at the bottom of the scale; he averaged only 82.7 mph off the bat, barreled just one ball and posted a lowly 22.5% hard-hit rate (all per Statcast).
Sharma reports that the Cubs sent Shaw to Triple-A to scale back the size of a leg kick that had been part of his mechanics at the plate for years — a trait they believed would help his swing play better against big league pitching. Shaw struggled a bit early on, with three hits in 27 plate appearances after being sent down. Sharma notes that he wasn’t working with the new leg kick in games yet until this past week, but Shaw got hot at the plate with his old mechanics as he worked to hone his new ones — and upon incorporating that new, quieter leg kick into Triple-A games this weekend he homered four times in two games.
It’s hard to attribute that solely to the change in his timing mechanism, but Shaw currently boasts five round-trippers in his past six games and is hitting .321/.418/.641 with more walks (13.2%) than strikeouts (12.1%) in his past 91 trips to the plate. He’s piled up a dozen extra-base hits (six homers, five doubles, one triple), gone 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts and seen jumps in his batted-ball data (88.6 mph average exit velocity, 109.9 mph max exit velo, 43.8% hard-hit rate).
By measure of wRC+, the Cubs have had the second-worst production in MLB from their third basemen in 2025, leading only the division-rival Brewers. Chicago third baseman have turned in a feeble .184/.271/.222 batting line — 53% worse than league-average production at the plate. Much of that is due to Shaw’s own struggles early on, but the Cubs have received negligible production overall from the group of Lopez, Jon Berti, Gage Workman, Vidal Brujan and Justin Turner when they’ve manned the hot corner as well.
Lopez, 30, has appeared in 14 games since signing with the Cubs but has just 22 plate appearances. He’s been used more as a defensive specialist and has gone just 1-for-18 with four walks and three strikeouts in 22 plate appearances overall.