Jack Henry López (born December 16, 1992) is a Puerto Rican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

infielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

. Listed at and , he bats and throws right-handed.

Baseball career

Amateur career

López graduated from

Deltona High School Deltona High School is a public high school located in Deltona, Florida, United States. It is located on Wolf Pack Run, east of Interstate 4 in the city's northwestern corner. In the 2011–2012 academic school year, the school enrolled 1,666 stu ...

Deltona, Florida Deltona is a city in central Florida and the most populous city in Volusia County. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Monroe along the St. Johns River in central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 93,692. The cit ...

. He had a .462

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

during his senior season and was named to the All-Central Florida baseball team. Although he was offered a full scholarship to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

with the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

, the Kansas City Royals selected López in the 16th round of the

2011 MLB draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

, and he signed with the Royals for a $750,000 bonus.

Kansas City Royals

López began his professional career in 2012, splitting the season between the Rookie-level

Idaho Falls Chukars The Idaho Falls Chukars are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and play their home games at Melaleuca ...

and the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for each ...

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play thei ...

. The following year, López was promoted to the High-A

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

, where he batted .230/.297/.301 with 4 home runs and 45 RBI. He returned to Wilmington in 2014 and 2015, batting .215 and .238, respectively. In 2016, López advanced further through the Royals' farm system, reaching Double-A with the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark, whic ...

. For the 2017 season, López began the season in Double-A, and spent the year there aside from a short stint with the Triple-A

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at We ...

of the Pacific Coast League. In 2018, López spent the year in Omaha, where he slashed .251/.279/.352 with 34

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI) and a career-high 8 home runs. On November 2, 2018, López became a free agent.

Atlanta Braves

On March 9, 2019, López signed a minor league contract with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

organization. He appeared in 96 games for the Triple-A

Gwinnett Stripers The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia (with a Lawrencevil ...

of the International League in 2019, batting .273 with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs. López did not play in a game in 2020, as the minor-league season was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. He elected free agency on November 2, 2020.

Boston Red Sox

On January 16, 2021, López signed a minor league contract with the

organization. He began the season with the Double-A

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Sea Dogs became part of the Red Sox syst ...

, and was promoted to the Triple-A

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. The ...

. López was on Boston's

taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

in late August, traveling with the major-league team as a potential roster replacement. He was added to Boston's active roster on September 1, and made his MLB debut that evening against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. He was returned to Worcester on September 6, recalled to Boston on September 11, and returned to Worcester on September 21. López played in seven games for Boston, batting .154 (2-for-13). In the minor leagues, he played five games for Portland, batting 8-for-19 (.421), and 68 games for Worcester, where he had a .274 average. López became a free agent following the 2021 season.

Detroit Tigers

On February 9, 2022, López signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

Winter baseball

López has played in the Puerto Rican Winter League during the minor-league offseason, each year since the 2013–14 season. He has played for several teams in the league, including three seasons with Cangrejeros de Santurce.

International career

López played for

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

in the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

of 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2020–21, batting over .300 in each series. On July 2, 2021, López was named to the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. He was granted a transfer of sports citizenship by the Puerto Rico Baseball Federation. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

Personal life

López's father, Juan López, was a minor-league catcher who later served as

bullpen coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...

for three different

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

teams during 14 seasons between 1999 and 2013. López's uncle

Onix Concepción Onix Cardona Concepción Cardona (born October 5, 1957), is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball (MLB) shortstop. He is the cousin of former MLB player José Lind. Career Concepcion played for two teams during his seven-year career: the ...

was a shortstop for the Kansas City Royals, including their

1985 World Series The 1985 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1985 season. The 82nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Kansas City Royals and the N ...

team; he also played one game with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

References

External links

Player profile
at SoxProspects.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Jack 1992 births Living people Major League Baseball infielders Boston Red Sox players Idaho Falls Chukars players Kane County Cougars players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Cangrejeros de Santurce (baseball) players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Tiburones de Aguadilla players Omaha Storm Chasers players Criollos de Caguas players Gwinnett Stripers players Indios de Mayagüez players Portland Sea Dogs players Worcester Red Sox players People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics United States national baseball team players Olympic baseball players of the United States Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in baseball