There was a blockbuster trade between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox on Thursday. The Atlanta Braves traded second baseman Nicky Lopez of Naperville, Illinois to the White Sox with starting pitchers Michael Soroka and Jared Shuster, shortstop Braden Shewmake and prospect Riley Gowens for reliever Aaron Bummer. This will be Lopez’s third Major League Baseball team as he previously played for the Kansas City Royals from 2019 to 2023, and the Atlanta Braves in 2023.
Second time traded in 2023
Lopez was initially traded on July 30 from the Kansas City Royals to the Atlanta Braves. In return, the Royals received pitcher Taylor Hearn of Royse City, Texas.
Nicky Lopez’s 2023 MLB Statistics
In 93 games, 225 at bats and 262 plate appearances with the Royals and Braves, Lopez batted .231 with one home run and 25 runs batted in. He scored 32 runs, and had 52 hits, eight doubles, three triples, six stolen bases, 26 walks, 69 total bases, four sacrifice bunts, one sacrifice fly, an on base percentage of .326, and a slugging percentage of .307.
Lopez’s home run and sacrifice fly came in Braves’s wins. The home run was a three-run dinger in a 21-3 Braves win over the New York Mets on August 12. Lopez’s sacrifice fly came in a 7-3 Braves win over the San Francisco Giants on August 26.
Soroka is a former All-Star
Despite struggling mightily on the mound in 2023 (earned run average of 6.40), Soroka is a former National League All-Star from 2019. That year he had a record of 13 wins and four losses with 142 strikeouts and an earned run average of 2.68.
Bummer looking to rebound in 2024
Bummer was great in 2022, but pitched poorly in 2023. In 2022, he pitched 32 games with a record of two wins and one loss, with an earned run average of 2.36. In 2023, Bummer pitched 61 games, had a record of five wins and five losses, but a poor earned run average of 6.79 and WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.53.
The post Braves trade second baseman Nicky Lopez to White Sox appeared first on The Sports Daily.