Jacob Lopez (born March 11, 1998) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Amateur career

Lopez attended Saugus High School in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most popul ...

, and

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loca ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

San Francisco Giants

The

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

selected Lopez in the 26th round, with the 766th overall selection, of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie–level

Arizona League Giants The Arizona Complex League Giants are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Scottsdale Stadium in Sc ...

, recording a 1.42 ERA in 9 games. Lopez began the 2019 season with the Low–A

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their ...

, starting 9 games and posting a 3.02 ERA with 39 strikeouts across innings pitched.

Tampa Bay Rays

On July 31, 2019, the Giants traded Lopez to the

in exchange for

Joe McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age 48 in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the mo ...

. He made 3 starts for the Low–A

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

down the stretch, recording a 2–0 record and 2.40 ERA with 18 strikeouts. Lopez did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Lopez began the 2021 season with the High–A

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which ...

, making 14 appearances (10 starts) and registering a 3–1 record and 2.30 ERA with 88 strikeouts across innings of work. Lopez suffered an elbow injury in late August that necessitated

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

and caused him to miss the entire 2022 season. Lopez began the 2023 season with the Double–A

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

, and was promoted to the Triple–A

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

after 8 games. In 18 starts for Durham, he pitched to a 4–5 record and 2.72 ERA with 87 strikeouts in innings pitched. On August 14, 2023, Lopez was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his debut that day in relief against the Giants, in which he recorded a save. In 4 games for Tampa Bay, Lopez logged a 4.38 ERA with 8 strikeouts across innings of work. Lopez was optioned to Triple–A Durham to begin the 2024 season. He made 4 appearances for the Rays, posting a 5.23 ERA with 8 strikeouts across innings pitched.

Athletics

On December 14, 2024, Lopez, alongside

Jeffrey Springs Jeffrey Scott Springs (born September 20, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays. Career Spr ...

, was traded to the

in exchange for

Joe Boyle Joseph Whiteside Boyle (6 November 1867 – 14 April 1923), better known as Klondike Joe Boyle, was a Canadian adventurer who became a businessman and entrepreneur in the United Kingdom. In the First World War he came to see service assisting t ...

, Will Simpson, Jacob Watters and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick in the 2025 MLB draft. He was optioned to the Triple-A

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada, a comm ...

to begin the 2025 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Jacob 1998 births Living people Arizona League Giants players Athletics (baseball) players Baseball players from Los Angeles Bowling Green Hot Rods players College of the Canyons Cougars baseball players Durham Bulls players Hudson Valley Renegades players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball pitchers Montgomery Biscuits players People from Granada Hills, Los Angeles Perth Heat players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players San Francisco State Gators baseball players Tampa Bay Rays players