Rafael Lopez

Note: This page is for 2010s catcher Rafael Lopez; for others with the same name, click here.

Rafael Manuel Lopez
(Raffy)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 190 lb.
• School Boston College, Indian River State College, Florida State University
• High School Summit Christian School
• Debut September 2, 2014
• Final Game July 20, 2018
• Born October 2, 1987 in Philadelphia, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Rafael Lopez made his major league debut in 2014.

Lopez redshirted as a college freshman at Boston College. Transferring, he hit .375 and stole 18 bases for Indian River Junior College and was named All-Conference. He then moved to Florida State University and became a catcher. He hit .287/.360/.393 and threw out 42.% of opposing base-stealers. He posted similar numbers (.278/.389/.397) in the 2009-2010 season. As a senior, he posted a .325/.436/.514 with 43 runs in 60 games. He was named second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference. On the advice of scout Tom Clark, the Chicago Cubs took him in the 16th round of the 2011 amateur draft.

Rafael split the summer of 2011 between the AZL Cubs (4 for 11, 2B, BB) and Boise Hawks (.316/.381/.449, 37 RBI in 54 G). He was 5th in the Northwest League in average, 9th in OBP, 9th in slugging and 10th in RBI. He was named the NWL All-Star catcher. He spent 2012 with the AZL Cubs (7 for 15, 2 2B, 3B, BB), Peoria Chiefs (.265/.350/.342 in 31 G) and Daytona Cubs (.269/.338/.403 in 35 G). He began 2013 as the main catcher for the Tennessee Smokies.

He first made it to the majors with the Cubs as a September call-up in 2014, when he went 2 for 11 in 7 games. In mid-2015, he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in return for a minor leaguer, then moved from organization to organization over the next few seasons. He made it back to the big leagues for 8 games with the Cincinnati Reds in 2016, going 0 for 7. He got a more extensive look with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 when he played 24 games towards the end of the year. He showed some power, with 4 homers in 54 at-bats while hitting .222, but his fielding was sub-par and the Blue Jays decided to keep the weaker-hitting but better-fielding Luke Maile as Russell Martin's main back-up the next season. Raffy moved to the San Diego Padres in 2018 and saw more time in the majors than ever before, with 37 games and 102 at-bats. He hit just .176, though, with 3 homers and 13 RBIs, During that period from 2014 to 2018, most of his time was spent in the minors, where he was usually the second-string catcher in either AA or AAA. His best year was in the Toronto chain in 2017 when he hit a combined .288 with 14 doubles, 16 homers and 45 RBIs in 73 games between the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats and AAA Buffalo Bisons.

Following the 2018 season, he was acquired by the Atlanta Braves from the Padres in return for future considerations, but he never returned to the big leagues.

Related Sites

• Rafael Lopez on mlb.com
• Florida State University bio